“New York is the only place where a girl can graduate from the Scarlett O’Hara School of Business and build an art empire held together with Aqua-Net.”
“A good string section and an orchestra are the first things I think of when I start a project. The strings are particularly important to me. With them I can do any kind of picture. After the human voice, they are the most expressive instrument I know.”
“I think there's a lot of drama in a little person in a lot of space, I'd rather see the soprano die of tuberculosis in a long shot, for instance, than 29 close-ups of her going cough, cough, cough.”
“I don’t really think that the world of film and high definition are going to conflict for a long time, if ever. I don’t think one replaces the other. They each have their purpose for specific kind of stories.”
“Film is a unique art form in the sense that no one person can express himself or herself alone. You rely on a lot of unsung heroes. It's not like an artist painting a picture where it's just him and the easel. There are 100 people I rely on.”
“The problem the cameraman is always faced with: whether you are going to photograph and make a fantastic shot of someone who has just been shot and is dying, or whether you put your camera down and help the guy.”
“I think, fundamentally, the people I want to make laugh are British. I can't ever imagine living abroad. I love all elements of how British society lends itself to comedy - you know, it's own sort of pompousness and self-loathing and class system and cynicism and irony.”
“If you really do want to be an actor who can satisfy himself and his audience, you need to be vulnerable. You must reach the emotional and intellectual level of ability where you can go out stark naked, emotionally, in front of an audience.”