So, thanks God, our films, our first films were suddenly being appreciated by the Western media; especially France was very good, and Switzerland was very good.
I'm not particularly a career-oriented guy. I'm lucky. I can make really interesting films much of the time with interesting people yet be anonymous, have a private life. But, I'd like to have the choice of the better roles.
I took two years away from making films to write a novel.
My plan was to stay in Canada to make films.
Will Smith is the most successful money-making movie star on planet Earth, in terms of just how many people have gone to see his films, so Will is a guy who gets movies made.
I don't see a film industry in Germany. They have a great TV culture, but how many German films are really exciting?
I guess because I pay so much attention to the physical part of the character, I don't look upon it as like Charlize Theron up there. I don't think of them as like Charlize Theron films.
I have an intense obsession with making films. I not only love to make films, I perhaps need to make films.
I like some of the early silent films because I love to watch how actors had to play then. What would interest me today is to do a silent film.
Poor decisions and bad luck are contingencies of most horror films.
But you know, there's always a danger nowadays that films are gonna be brought up to Canada for budget reasons. And that's something that really concerns me.
Because I do so many action-oriented films, I started working with stunt people doing fight training, then I found it to be just great exercise. Also I like to be fit, so I've continued on with fight training. Right before I got to do 'Conan,' I was fighting off four guys. Its great fun. And strange.
One of the things I like about doing historical films is drawing the line between now and then.
That's where I got my start and where I'll continue to work, but I can't tell you the number of films between Drugstore Cowboy and Curly Sue that I auditioned for and wanted that didn't choose me.
I was really into films when I was younger, but I feel like a bit of a phony sometimes - I started acting because I didn't know what else to do. I filled in all these university application forms and honestly didn't want to do any of the courses.
But I think the thing I'm proud of about the film is that there aren't many films - either independent films or mainstream Hollywood films - that are like this; it's of its own times, and it's the film Mike Nichols wanted to make.
It's always been a lie that it's difficult to make films.
As soon as I get my car I think I'll be going to the cinema more. Since I don't go very often, there are no films that are a must see at the moment. I usually wait till they come out on DVD.
I can't stand on a podium and beat my chest saying I'm the best. I just think I've been the luckiest of all. Yes, I'm talented. The movies that I've chosen and the way they've fared have also helped. I've always done films I would love to watch. I have stayed away from films which I thought were depressing.
You have to make films you feel strongly about. And then hope you can find the audience.
Yeah... I like films, I like movies, I like playing different characters and working with different actors and filming in different places. I like movies because it's kind of a combination of every art: it's like, it's picture, it's story, it's music, it's kind of like a clash and a collide of every art. It's really neat.
I have to say I've been lucky in that way in that I've been able to go from different films and different genres with different challenges.
My films express me, my sense of rhythm, my sense of impact, my sense of kinetic energy. I like films to move, but I like also clear storytelling and characters, and most of all, I like authentic emotion.
In December 2011, I will be opening up my production house, Sharmeen Obaid Films, and aspire to change the way Pakistanis approach nonfiction storytelling. There are thousands of stories to be found here.
We have to support our own films. If we don't, how can we expect others to support them?
In TV films, it's nice to get out of town for six weeks or two months, whatever it is, do your thing, and you're out, ready for the next assignment.
The hardest thing to do and most miserable films are comedies.
I think that horror films have a very direct relationship to the time in which they're made. The films that really strike a film with the public are very often reflecting something that everyone, consciously or unconsciously feeling - atomic age, post 9-11, post Iraq war; it's hard to predict what people are going to be afraid of.
I've worked on so many films where the script is one thing and then, somewhere down the line - on set, sometimes - it changes, and there's zero I can do about it.
In our benighted age, when films about amusement park rides and electronic fidgets scoop the honours, perhaps Hollywood redux is the best we can hope for.
I was making films when I was about 12 years old - Super-8 films.
If we just made one movie, 'The Hobbit,' the fact is that all the fans, the eight-, nine- and 10-year-old boys, they would watch it 1,000 times. Now, they've got three films they can watch 1,000 times.
Being an actress is a very physical thing. If I didn't look the way I looked, I would never have started in films.
I think it's a mistake for young filmmakers to just buy digital equipment and shoot a feature. Make short films first, make your mistakes and learn from them.
A lot of films come out before they're finished.
I made several short films with very little dialogue. I'm still not a fan of talking heads. My stories are told with images as much as possible.