Ryuichi Sakamoto Quotes

I've always been interested in film, so to get involved in any way in the genesis of making a film or music for a film is fascinating to me.

I spent a long time working in the movies to figure out that kind of acting and also how to write and produce for the screen.

I've never made any film that I wouldn't go back and re-edit.

Ultimately your job as an actor is to perform however you're being asked to perform and there's many different procedures as an actor that you're going to run into that you should be prepared for and be ready to go to work and do the best you can and give the director the best thing you can to hopefully give him things on that day that could be shot preserved and out into a canned, then when they go into the editing room that's where a movie's made.

I like every part [of the film process ] except the business and admin stuff. The initial idea. Writing. Re-writing. Casting. Directing, Editing. If I had to chose I'd say writing, followed by putting music on the picture. That is magical.

I would say my favorite was just the beginning of the movie like doing all the rehearsal stuff. It's been amazing to see the rest of it happen but it happens so piecemeal. And Edgar sort of has the whole movie edited in his head already, so we're just sort of matching to what he has.

The first thing you have to get used to in any kind of acting is the ability to make a fool of yourself. If you haven't learnt how to make a fool of yourself, you shouldn't be on the boards. That's absolutely what it's all about.

Most actors want the audience to like them, and that leads to bad acting.

I think with comedy I get very sort of critical of myself and try and do the best I can and it doesn't come as second nature. I work at those kinds of films. It doesn't mean I can't do them - I've done two now, and I have a great time doing them, but I just find myself a little bit more neurotic.

The thing I really love about film is there's a really big sense of teamwork, and everyone has to do their job to the best of their ability to make the film work in the first place.

I never come away from a film thinking I nailed it.

Auditioning is always so different for different things.

As an actor, I still don't really know exactly what I am doing most of the time.

In the acting game, you spend a long time fighting against what the director perceives you to be. And half the time the directors don't know.

I don't watch the movies I'm in - ever. Sometimes I keep pictures, but that's it. I used to watch my movies, because I didn't want to be rude to the people making them, but I stopped a few years ago. I think it's pretty common among actors. It's like listening to your own voice, but multiplied by a million.

There are two phases to a movie. First you shoot the movie, and then you make the movie. Generally, post-production is longer than filming.

In the kind of films that I do, there is an extremely limited number of people that can improvise. The reason the ensemble continues in the movies is because those are the people that can do that kind of work. It's not just an accident those people are in the film.

I liked film-making, but the most difficult thing was the editing. I found it tormentingly difficult.

In eighth grade, when I was just the school weirdo, my drama teacher put me in a play, and we came up with a few comedy bits. And that very first reaction, for an audience of supportive middle schoolers, I put my head out and pretended I got scared by the audience, and ducked back in. They all went: 'Yeah! That's great!'

I never watch the dailies. What I usually do is have a look at the rough or final cut, and I just get something from the story. Sometimes I start composing even before the director has shot anything. The dailies don't help me at all.

All movies are inherently collaborative, and animation even more so. There are hundreds and hundreds of people involved with an animated movie.

I have to see a definitive cut of the film before I even start thinking about the music, I tell the director what my feelings are and what I would like to do. He accepts what I say or discusses it or destroys it. Eventually, we have to find a compromise.

I want to do more films because if you do a lot of films, you become a better actor.

I think everyone loves 'The Departed.' That was a movie that had a lot of problems structurally. And we had to battle with it. Fight. Experiment. Try different things. And I think finally we hit it.

Going to a theatre and watching yourself on the big screen is a nightmare.