I remember watching Cate Blanchett in 'Elizabeth' and feeling like for the first time - even though that time period wasn't happening now - that I believed that role.
The casting of 'Slumdog Millionaire' is a dream. Anil Kapoor, as the sleazy TV host, diamonds winking in his earlobes, has never been better; the quietly understated Irrfan Khan turns in another bravura performance as the police inspector whose questioning brings out Jamal's story.
They can't make any of these talented young actors Fletch. You might as well make a movie called Chevy Chase.
I've seen what a difference a good director can make to an actor's performance.
What I love in working on film is just working with actors. It's one thing to write scenes alone over a keyboard and to imagine the actions and reactions in your head, but it's a completely other thing to hear actors speaking your words, to see their bodies bringing the fullness of emotion, need, desire and pain to life right in front of you. It's amazing.
Character is plot, and casting is character.
Christina Ricci is amazing, the most professional actor I think I've ever met. You can be chatting with her and when they call action, she's right there.
If you do well as an actor, a good director will pick up on it, and keep it in the film.
Alan Ball, he's good at challenging his actors, I'll say that.
For example, the character of Claire in In Dreams wasn't imagined enough by me. Annette Bening is a great actress, and she gave a great performance, but because I hadn't fully written it essentially the character wasn't finished.
I didn't feel like going any further in this scene with the boy. He was not a professional actor, and if I had pushed the scene any further it would have destroyed the tone of the movie.
With both Caddyshack and Vacation, it's not like the subjects were serious enough that they engaged my interest for another round. I love the characters, and the actors were great, but I didn't see the need to make another Vacation movie.
Encountering a real place enhances the performances of actors in subtle ways and changes the spiritual texture of the film.
I always loved when James Stewart did roles that were not so dialogue-based, like 'Vertigo.'
My favorite films left the camera rest, and the actors and characters have a stage to act. Move the camera when it's motivating.
It's the same with people knowing absolutely everything there is to know about an actor. I actually think the more personal information you have about an actor, the more you have to carve out for yourself when you go to a movie and see them in it.
You cannot judge the performance of an actor in isolation. A performance becomes good because of so many factors, including the other actors.
I didn't need the insurance. I do it again if my DP tells me it didn't look good in the camera or if the actors didn't hit their marks. But if everything was working why do it again?
A great screenplay makes everybody step up to the bar and deliver.
'Analyze This' is a good movie because Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal are really good. But without the material to put on the play, of course, they couldn't be good. For me, it starts with the writing. I always think that the writer is doing the vast majority of the director's work, in a sense.
One of the skills I had to learn and become proficient in is kissing a man. I had never kissed a man. Will Smith did it in his movies, so did Jake Gyllenhaal, and I figured it was my time. So it was me and Steve Carell - fantastic.
I think Daniel Craig is brilliant as Bond. I remember at the beginning, they were all saying, 'Oh, he won't work,' and I thought, 'Yeah, you watch.'
Martin Landau in 'Crimes and Misdemeanors' - he gave me chills.
No actor can rise above the script of the film.
It's rather rare when you play an older character in a movie in a supporting role to even get an arc.
