I've been blessed with enough wealth that I can make a film myself up to a certain budget. So one way I thought I would reinvent myself was just to make these very small, personal films that I've financed myself.
It takes forever to make a film. It's a gargantuan thing of untold effort.
I like independent films... European films. I do go and see popular films as well because my kids force me.
Certainly, a lot of the films I've worked on have ended up good movies, but they haven't always been the best experiences
The more experience I get, the more I know to relax and let go of things because there's so much that is out of your control. So much needs to happen to get a film made nowadays and star power doesn't even matter anymore. So, me being what I am, I have to realise that to an extent.
It's a unique experience when you're doing an independent film where you have one person who puts up all the funds to make the film.
Now I have begun to get interested in films and I just hope that people start becoming interested in me to do more films.
I enjoy making films, but my heart is in the stage. Every night you have to be on. There's no second take.
Sometimes you're watching a great film actor, and if you stand 10 feet away from them, you're like, "God, they're terrible. They're not doing anything." And then you see the close-up and it's so nuanced and so much expression is happening. They were acting for that camera and for no one else.
The magic of film isn't just because of the big screen, or the acoustics, but the ineffable shared experience of going to the movies.
There's such a sense of theatre in getting glammed up; it's like putting on a play or short film.
It was lucky that Ralph [Fiennes] is someone who understands both film and theater and we were able to understand that scene so well before we took it to the set.
It was amazing how much rehearsal helped with the performance - it was almost a theatrical approach to filmmaking.
Most filmmakers go out with the first feature and nobody cares.
Definitely my favorite cut is the one that got put out. That's my favorite version of the film, the one that I put in theaters. That's my directors cut, there's no question about it.
For me it sounds weird saying that the filmmakers respect the film. I don't imagine that there's other ways to make a film, but unfortunately there is.
I always say that I am a big fan of films but I am an even bigger fan of the filmmaking craft.
Whenever I'm making a feature film, I wish I were filming a documentary, because making feature films is so stressful. It happens every time.
If you do well as an actor, a good director will pick up on it, and keep it in the film.
I personally like to do independent films.
I'm not a superhero fan. I don't see those films. I'm not interested.
I was spending a lot of time in trailers, you know, on film sets surrounded by film people.
I wanted to make sure that I was making films about the world. So I thought well, I should go and see it. I'm spending a lot of time in - we call them caravans in Britain.
If you watch a film from beginning to end, with no women in it, it's really difficult.
That is the greatest source of my anxiety on this film [The Hobbit], is that I'm going to be lynched.
