Mammootty Quotes

Campbell [Scott] also directed me in a film with Hope Davis called Final. That was the first thing we did together, but I've known him for years.

I'm not a huge kind of visual director. For me, it's all about the acting. There's no greater buzz than working with actors and seeing what they can do and how much they can improve on what you'd written. That will always be on the top of my list. It's a real privilege to see it live before anyone else sees it.

I did this thing for HBO called 'Strip Search' with Sidney Lumet, who was one of the best directors I've ever worked with. We actually had a rehearsal period before we shot, which is unusual.

I think what makes a good actor's director is the same thing that makes a good director. Acting is just one of the trades necessary to make a movie.

I worked with Steven Spielberg on 'AI,' and his level of preparation was extraordinary. He told me there was a time at the beginning when he was a bit more spontaneous and went over budget, and it absolutely wrecked his head. When you look at the power and assuredness of his movies, it makes sense that he works out so much in advance.

No, I wouldn't direct a movie, no. I couldn't. I don't have the patience for it, I don't have the people skills. You have to be clever. I'm not really clever in that kind of way. And you have to be able to manipulate people, but at the same time allow them to feel like they are manipulating you, to get the kind of movie that you want.

I started off as a director, so when I see other actors directing, it gives me hope that maybe they'll put me into that position at some point, too.

Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you're a director. Everything after that you're just negotiating your budget and your fee.

A lot of directors want to storyboard you, whereas the best way to get a performance out of an actor is a collaborative process where you listen to the actor's input.

When you write and direct your own film, you basically know exactly what you want. Or you hope to. For the studio, it actually can make life a little easier, because if you have a bunch of questions, they only need to call one person.

I directed a short series for Hulu called 'Paloma,' and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting. It gave me a new bolt of energy in terms of my interest in filmmaking because it made me realize how collaborative filmmaking can be and also that you're not just limited to one job.

It would be a great vacation to act in a movie if I weren't directing it. But to do it while you're directing interferes with your concentration, and I wouldn't do that again.

I would love to direct one day. I value the relationship that I have with a director so much, and I would be really excited to be on the other end of that relationship.

I've not had any interest in running a movie studio, but I want to make one feature film.

John Boorman was the best director I've ever had.

It's great to have a good relationship with the directors and learn about things you do with cameras, and how you direct.

'Flip' is an anthology of four short films, and I am in the one called 'Massage,' along with Sandeepa Dhar and Viraj Patel.

The only actor-director I have worked with in my career is my brother in his film 'Dillagi,' and he got the best out of me.

Denis Villeneuve is such a wonderful filmmaker. I just feel nothing but grateful to have worked with him and to have a chance to learn his language of filming.

In cinema, I would not really rate my costar and I would not pick a project because of the costar. I would pick a project because of the director. And the script.

As a director, you see something in someone; you know it's there, you just got to go get it. You do that with any actor. That's your job.

When I began to direct, I discovered that I was much more comfortable than I was acting.

To make a film with Rajinikanth will be a dream come true for any director, and I'm not an exception. But I always believe that it's the story that should drive you. If I come up with something like that, and if the story inspires me, I would be happy to work with him.

I wonder if Louis Ferreira would be interested in directing.

As a screenwriter, you are so used to things going in directions that you wouldn't have taken, so to be able to say, 'This is how I intended it, this is how I want to shoot it, and these are the decisions that I'll live by,' I think directing is a logical conclusion of mine.