I do finish reading a script and say, Why are they making it and what are they talking about? I like to try and be responsible in my choices in that way.
I had a feeling about directing Cocoon II: The Return. At first I wasn't too interested because it was a sequel. Then I read the script and was excited by the relationships and its mystic quality.
I have always believed that chemistry can't be created between two people. You either have it or you don't. The script can only enhance it.
I got involved in script development from the beginning. It was nice to see how a film gets made right from the beginning. It was quite hands-on for me.
It wasn't the greatest script in the world, but not many people can say they've played a wicked king in a swashbuckling Arthurian special-effects monster movie.
A script is a unique literary form, because it's not the end product; it's a blueprint. If you're not thinking of that end product, there's going to be a disconnect.
It's pretty scripted on the road: very organised and compartmentalised, and that's the way it has to be with so many people involved in a Stones tour.
I don't act, anyway. The stuff is all injected as we go along. My pictures are made without script or written directions of any kind.
No one could ad lib like Peter. You would think that it was all scripted, he was so poetic, but it wasn't.
As a rule it usually takes three or four readings for me to be interested in a script, and if I'm interested I'll read it three or four times before I make a strong decision.
I have been writing songs and poems since I was a little girl. I started writing short scripts, which evolved into the idea for a book.
I'm just a hired actor who was hired for a particular job, but I think one of the joys of reading the script was the way that the personal and the global are woven together.
I consider my job as a screenwriter to pack a script with possibilities and ideas - to create a feast for the filmmaker to pick from.
Out of every 10 scripts I get sent, seven are fairly generic about an American guy who gets the girl and is involved in underground espionage activity.
After 'Brothers & Sisters' ended, I was back to the old game as an actor. Doing pilot season, choosing a script and figuring out what I wanted to do.
It's hard to find a play that's right for me to do. Rather than waiting around for the right script to come along, I decided to write one myself.
But most scripts are terrible. Most projects are bad, that's just kind of the way it is. And I'm not really attracted to those.
Before 'Whiplash,' I'd had a string of failed scripts. I'd pour my blood, sweat and tears into them, and no one would like them.
Each of our collections is like a movie. We write the script, and this Sicilian woman who has traveled around the world plays the lead role.
I think a playwright realizes after he finishes working on the script that this is only the beginning. What will happen when it moves into three dimensions?
I read the script and try not to bring anything personal into it. I make notes, talk to the director and we decide what kinds of shades should be in the character.
