Any time you can build jokes around a story that resonates on an emotional level, it is going to have a big impact.
A film should be an experience. You should feel something. It should motivate you to feel something.
Create a story of WOW that will be retold.
I think a film is a failure if it doesn't have an emotional effect. That's the film's failure. Not if it doesn't deliver a message, but if it doesn't have emotional effect or visceral effect.
I think every time I can find a story that touches that human nerve, and even sometimes makes you cry, I think that I've found something that I'll like very much.
I think it's possible to make a blockbuster that is actually emotional. They don't need to be mutually exclusive.
I want to do stories that really move me, that have an audience, and at the end of the day, I want people to feel something when they walk out of the cinema.
I believe that films are meant for entertainment, but in that process, you have the possibility to think about what kind of entertainment you're giving to audiences.
I guess that is my favorite thing - to make people laugh and also to maybe engage them emotionally and touch them somehow in telling the story.
Condense some daily experience into a glowing symbol and an audience is electrified.
As an actor, that's the most that you can hope for - not only being part of a story, but being part of a story that matters.
You don't want to make a movie just to make a movie. You better have a point of view.
You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.
I would like to do a big movie that many, many people see but I just know I would be miserable if it didn't have something to it.
If you give an answer to your viewer, your film will simply finish in the movie theatre. But when you pose questions, your film actually begins after people watch it. In fact, your film will continue inside the viewer.
It is rare that you read scripts that genuinely move you and make you feel that, regardless of the commercial possibilities, you have to make the film.
A woman came up to me after one of the screenings with tears pouring down her face and sobbed, You've defined my entire life for me on the screen.
I think that the thing that is really strong with 'The Hunger Games' is just that it comes from a very strong idea.
People are moved by my story, but they're only moved by my story because of what I do on the court.
It is very touching that you are able to create some kind of impact through a character.
Heart of America is a movie I'm very proud of. The young actors are great and the story has impact.
I want to be involved in a story that makes a difference.
I wish I could create an IMAX film that would make my work accessible to a broader audience.
I think that's a great opportunity, to pick a script where you can build up a good skill. I think the main thing I look for when I look at scripts is if it's inspirational. If it's something that teenagers can relate to. And is it something that the audience is going to get something out of. If not, then it's really not worth doing.
I am filled with awe that filmmakers have the capacity to stir us and give us back a sense of wonder.
