Things have got to add up to 100 points. The script is part of it, the character is part of it, the people I'm working with is the third part of it - and any combination of the three has got to add up to 100 points.
They've got this house style which is writer driven. I heard of one person who sent his script in, and Karen Berger said there weren't enough words in it. Put some more in.
When I do a novel, I don't really use the script, I use the book; when I did Apocalypse Now, I used Heart of Darkness. Novels usually have so much rich material.
In television you don't have a lot of time to spend with the role or the script. Typically you get a script a week prior to shooting. Sometimes it's even less time, not enough time to dream about the role.
Some of the greatest actors on the planet are the most insecure people. Now I don't know if that insecurity necessarily equates to a lack of confidence. Some people are just very shy individuals. You give them a character to play and a script, and you put them in front of a camera or on a stage, and they just go.
I was totally involved in Bobby's World from the time we started the idea to sitting with the artists on how he would look, to the script meetings, the music, the lyrics, the songs.
I think sequels should be earned and we won't do it unless the script is better than the first one.
Actually when I gave out the script, I gave it with a CD of all the music I wanted to put in the movie, and again, we never thought we'd get all that music.
I really like acting but, just now, the more I read a script I find myself thinking I'd like to direct rather than act.
Sitcoms are more like stage drama than anything else on film - more than a one-hour and certainly more than a movie. You get a script on Monday. You rehearse all week. And on Friday, you're on.
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.
Once you've agreed the script, you must be willing to go as far as it needs to go on set.
I like it when you read a script and there's the part that you show to the other characters and then there's the part that only the audience knows.
Somebody wrote a script around us, but Dustin Abraham came with the best one.
I can say yes to some directors without even reading a script. But the first-time directors I've worked with, the scripts have not been perfect, but they had something that I liked.
Even as an actor, I think like a storyteller. My parents raised us to look at the script.
Now I'm doing a film festival for kids and writing a script about a kidnapped journalist in Afghanistan.
Every time I get a script it's a matter of trying to know what I could do with it. I see colors, imagery. It has to have a smell. It's like falling in love. You can't give a reason why.
When I think of the things that I want to write, I can never say them out loud because I know how crazy they sound. I know what things sound like when you haven't actually worked on the script, so I don't go around saying some of these ideas because they just sound awful.
Television allows for survival, which is the basic issue for me. You have to decide how much money is enough. You can't get carried away with the hunt for money. But there are times it shows up, and you need to grab it, and that allows you to hunt for a better script.
I'd love to do a sci-fi movie, a western, or an espionage thriller. But I'm not going to limit myself. If a good script comes along, I'm not going to discount it because it doesn't fit into one of these genres.
I've sold shows based on my standup twice to CBS, but they've never gone past the script stage. TV is very competitive.
But you're not necessarily ever going to be handed a script where you can say: it's all done and perfect.
They're naughty, all those writers - they mess around with people. I know James Gandolfini got a bit fed up on 'The Sopranos': if he said anything in front of a writer, told them a story from his life, it could make its way into the script.
I'm doing a Dylan Thomas film, Map of Love, with Mick Jagger producing again. It's a wonderful script.
There were rumors I wasn't going to die. The whole cast was sitting around the table reading the script. I fell on the floor - I'm not kidding. I looked up at Katherine Heigl, and she was crying.
Every time you read a script, it's, 'Oh, I do this!' or 'I'm capable of that!' It is a cool thing.
When I first read the script, I realized that Katie would have to be played as a rather down-to-earth person.
For me, it's important that the script is good. Then a good director will want to make it.
For me, I've always been one that reads a script and has been ready, wiling and able to go out and fight for parts.
They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family.
The green-light meeting, when I first started at Paramount, would consist of maybe three or four of us in a room. Perhaps two or three of us would have read the script under discussion.
I'm always looking for a low-budget script with an interesting character to play.
Aaron is not at all what his image might indicate. He's fiercly loyal and a true and total gentleman. He's very shy but has very strong opinions. He's into everything, wardrobe, hair, script, casting.
To this day, I get rewrite offers where they say: 'We feel this script needs work with character, dialogue, plot and tone,' and when you ask what's left, they say: 'Well, the typing is very good.'
We shot in a place called Asheville, which is like beautiful, beautiful forests. And then part of it we shot all the reaping stuff, which was just crazy - because the reaping in the book and in the script is such an emotional thing for everyone. It really did feel like that when we were shooting it.