A good director is very well prepared, and knows exactly how he's going to cut the film, so the shooting is as efficient as possible.
Unfortunately they're practically all dead. And many were my closest associates: friends, co-directors, whatever you want to say - my partners in crime.
A good [film] director is talented, imaginative, and does his homework.
Just being hired by a great director is complimentary.
The irony of a director going to film festivals is you never get to see any of the films.
Stanley Kubrick was very selective when he went into a close-up. Every director has his taste in a performance, but Stanley would explore a scene to find what was most interesting for him.
If Martin Scorsese calls, I am available. And then there the ones, well, you can just run down the list - any of those Oscar-nominated films, they have amazing directors across the board.
It's often the case with directors that they don't like to share credit, which is the case of Stanley. He would prefer just A Film By Stanley Kubrick including music and everything.
In people's minds, I'm a comic, so it took a lot of time before I was recognized as a director. I had to be patient until the public accepted me. As a result, my early films didn't get a lot of attention. As a serious film actor, things didn't take off, either. Only my comic talents were recognized.
I've certainly worked with really great directors who haven't acted.
I knew [Jesse Owens'] name, but I really didn't remember what it is he had done, so I felt like I had to get refreshed. So I read the script and I realized like, wow, this is an incredible human being. I told my manager, however I had to do it, let me see the director; I got to play him.
As a film director I like to have the actors create their own close-ups. It's an older style of filmmaking.
The main reason for choosing a project is not really the renown of the director that's making the project. I feel like it's the fact of an actor to constantly want to do different things.
With Alien, because we always use a different director, each one kind of stands on its own. So I guess it's possible for them to make another one, but we have no plans.
Every actress has a line she'll draw, where she'll say, 'This I will do and this I won't.' For me, everything has to be important to the story and the director has to be able to tell me why.
I can make a better living as an actor than I can as a director. Though I certainly would prefer to be directing movies.
Honestly, I look at the project and I look at the people attached and I look at the director. If it's a role that I feel will help me, as an actor, then I'll definitely take it.
I think the mark of a good director is that they surround themselves with good people.
We've done a lot of films now about the IRA, we can move on from all that. I loved '71 because I think it showed a very honest trail and what it was actually like. It wasn't one-sided. I really respect ['71 director] Yann [Demange] for what he did. But we have done a lot of those things.
It is universally agreed that Jean Renoir was one of the greatest of all directors, and he was also one of the warmest and most entertaining.
Over the long haul I'd say that most directors I've worked with have been pretty sensitive to the quality of the interpreted scenes.
As a director, I wouldn't like me as an actor. As an actor, I wouldn't like me as a director.
When I was the director of Central Intelligence in the early '90s, I tried to get the Air Force to partner with us in building drones. And they didn't want to, because they had no pilots.
The director respects what they've hired you for and chosen you for: to do the part and respect what you're doing.
I always wanted to direct. Directing is a lot more of a commitment though, a lot more time. I like directors who do very few takes, they know what they want.
