Quotes by Martin McDonagh

About Martin McDonagh:

Martin McDonagh is a playwright, screenwriter and film director, born in London with both British and Irish citizenship. He has been described as one of the most important living Irish playwrights.
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

Though it may not seem like it, I never try to write about a place, per se; it's always, first and last, about story. Story is everything. Story and a bit of attitude.

Martin McDonagh

'Pulp Fiction' is an amazing film, and I haven't made one nearly as good.

Martin McDonagh

There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That's where the real art lies. See, I always suspect characters who are painted as lovely, decent human beings. I would always q...

Martin McDonagh

Theatre was an art form that I didn't really respect, and because I wanted to shake it up and do different things on stage, I was able to combine all the things I'd learnt through writing on my own.

Martin McDonagh

It isn't about being or not being dead, it's about what you leave behind

Martin McDonagh

I can't stand up in front of people. It just fills me with horror.

Martin McDonagh

I suppose I walk that line between comedy and cruelty because I think one illuminates the other. We're all cruel, aren't we? We are all extreme in one way or another at times and that's what drama, since the Greeks, has dealt with.

Martin McDonagh

The fact that ticket prices are way too expensive, and there's only one bunch of people going to see Broadway shows, is something I've never liked.

Martin McDonagh

I don't even subscribe to writer's block being a truthful thing. I've had writer's laziness quite often. But I think it's all about sitting down and facing down the blank page and doing it, and I've always been ok at that.

Martin McDonagh

I never feel like a smug or a smart-alec film director, and there are plenty of those around.

Martin McDonagh

I fell into the theatre because I felt I was doing it well, and I stuck to it for the same reason.

Martin McDonagh

With a stage play, they can't cut a word; you can be in rehearsals every day, you cast it, you cast the director, too; the amount of control for a playwright is almost infinite, so you have that control over the finished product.

Martin McDonagh

I don't feel I have to defend myself for being English or for being Irish, because, in a way, I don't feel either. And, in another way, of course, I'm both.

Martin McDonagh

I seldom feel comfortable in a theatre. I always feel like I own a cinema. I feel equally happy in an empty one as a full one. Probably happier in an empty one!

Martin McDonagh

My plays are always pushing towards cinema anyway. They're down and dirty, real and more fun.

Martin McDonagh

I realize that I am never going to grow up.

Martin McDonagh

When I'm happiest writing is just not knowing where it goes and just let the characters bring you there.

Martin McDonagh

I think as a writer you never have to flee from fame because you're not that visible in the first place, but, after the Broadway success of 'Beauty Queen,' people were coming up to me all the time, and I wasn't really prepared for that level of atten...

Martin McDonagh

I hope there's some kind of morality in all my work.

Martin McDonagh

I think if you're writing a play, it should be its own end game; you'll never get to do a good one unless you know it's not a blueprint for a film; you're not going to get the action right and the story right.

Martin McDonagh

Author Bio

  • NameMartin McDonagh
  • DescriptionIrish film director and playwright
  • BornMarch 26, 1970
  • CountryIreland; United Kingdom
  • ProfessionTheatre Director; Playwright; Screenwriter; Film Director; Writer