Quotes by Charlie Kaufman

About Charlie Kaufman:

Charles Stuart is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and lyricist. He wrote the critically acclaimed films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He made his directing debut in 2008 with Synecdoche, New York, which was also well received; film critic Roger Ebert called it "the best movie of the decade" in 2009.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I can talk endlessly about characters, or why someone did this or that, and what that dynamic and interaction is. I really love it, and I think that actors really respond positively to the fact that I like to talk about that stuff, because I'm not su...

Charlie Kaufman

Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.

Charlie Kaufman

I was trying to figure out what a memory feels like.

Charlie Kaufman

So when I write characters and situations and relationships, I try to sort of utilize what I know about the world, limited as it is, and what I hear from my friends and see with my relatives.

Charlie Kaufman

I think of myself as a guy who tries to write screenplays and now has tried to direct one. Anything more than that is meaningless and it gets in the way of being a real human being.

Charlie Kaufman

Sometimes I don't like the books that I'm reading.

Charlie Kaufman

I feel like I want to keep moving toward idiosyncracy. Personal, personal, personal.

Charlie Kaufman

I actually think I'm probably more interested in structure than most people who write screenplays, because I think about it.

Charlie Kaufman

I have a personality that tends to be somewhat compulsive, and I do tend to think in a circular way. I dwell on the same things over and over and I try to figure out different ways of looking at the same issue.

Charlie Kaufman

I don't think screenwriting is therapeutic. It's actually really, really hard for me. It's not an enjoyable process.

Charlie Kaufman

I don't subscribe to anything. I sit there and I try to think about what seems honest to me.

Charlie Kaufman

We try to organize the world, which isn't organized the way our brains want to organize it. We tell stories about the people in our lives, we project ideas onto them. We project relationships with people, we make our lives into stories. I don't think...

Charlie Kaufman

I have a tendency to hire people who tend to be unattractive to the studios. Maybe this is a bad idea.

Charlie Kaufman

I'm in my mind a lot. I live there.

Charlie Kaufman

I do have, at different times, a certain kind of self-consciousness in the world, an insecurity.

Charlie Kaufman

I want to try it to see what it's like and see what my stuff looks like when I take it from inception to completion.

Charlie Kaufman

I like titles that are a little difficult, because it's kind of counterintuitive.

Charlie Kaufman

Before you start production, you have characters you have created without actors in mind, then all of a sudden you've got actors. They bring an enormous amount in creating these characters, and creating the dynamics between the characters that you've...

Charlie Kaufman

There's this inherent screenplay structure that everyone seems to be stuck on, this three-act thing. It doesn't really interest me. To me, it's kind of like saying, 'Well, when you do a painting, you always need to have sky here, the person here and ...

Charlie Kaufman

I think if something resonates, even if it's surreal, it's because it is relatable and I think that that's a core issue for me.

Charlie Kaufman

The only honest and generous thing for me to do is to give people myself. That's all I've got as an artist, so I want to do that in an unflinching way.

Charlie Kaufman

Author Bio

  • NameCharlie Kaufman
  • DescriptionAmerican screenwriter
  • BornNovember 1, 1958
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionScreenwriter; Film Producer; Film Director; Writer
  • AwardsAcademy Award For Best Writing (Original Screenplay); Writers Guild Of America Award