Influential Film Quotes

'Be Cool' was a defining movie for me.

I wasn't really sure about the kind of films I wanted to be a part of. That's when I saw 'Aaranya Kaandam.' I was stunned; it was such a stylish film.

Oh yeah - I watched Knife in the Water, saw the shot, and repeated it. But even if I hadn't seen that film, inevitably the camera would've ended up on top of that mast, I mean if you think of it there are only so many dynamic shots on a boat.

The movie that made me want to make movies was "Blue Velvet."

The first movie I saw - and I don't know if it influenced me - was Ben Hur. We watched it outside in a corn field, and it ran backwards, so the first movie I ever saw was Ben Hur backwards.

My favorite film is 'The Shining,' mostly because it was the film that inspired me to become a filmmaker myself.

I grew up a poor kid in Florida, and I was always in Florida living with my stepfather and my mother, and we used to, every year, sit down and watch 'The Wizard of Oz.' And I think to this day that's probably the foundation for everything I've done since.

'Jab We Met' is the reason why I have become an actress.

There is nothing as fun as making a cultural splash with a movie. Sometimes the splash happens, like with 'Swingers,' where it sort of slowly ripples out, yet everybody could quote it. Or it could be something like 'Elf,' where you just make a big splash right off the bat when the movie comes out.

In particular, the film 'Excalibur' was definitely one of those films that was instrumental in me realizing that I wanted to become an actor.

For me, 'Blade Runner' is one of the big influences in my life - I saw it when I was 13 or 14, when it first came out, and since, I've seen it many, many times.

'The Godfather' has been a film which has influenced me a lot.

'Monty Python And The Holy Grail' is a hugely important movie to me. I remember watching it for the first time on cable when I was about 13 years old.

What always made me proud - almost blushing with pride - is that Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg all told me that 'The Conformist' is their first modern influence.

'Hellraiser' was the first horror film I ever saw, so it will always be a favorite.

'Cool-Hand Luke' is one of my favorite movies.

'Batman Returns' was a huge movie and one of my favorites growing up. It's incredible.

'Citizen Ruth' I saw when I was in college, and I really flipped out over it. I just knew I wanted to work with the person who made that movie.

Obviously the original 'Tron' was a very influential movie for its time, so to be a part of the second one is very exciting.

I saw 'Alien' when I was 8 years old. To me, it was like a combination of Jaws and Star Wars, and that's the movie that made me want to be a director.

But the reason I became, why I wanted to be in the business was because there was Midnight Cowboy.

I was raised in Kenya, and I always wanted to be an actor from when I was really, really little, but the first time I thought it was something that I could make a career of was when I watched 'The Color Purple.' I think I was nine, maybe, and I saw people that looked like me - Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah.