I’m twelve years old. I run into a synagogue. I ask the rabbi the meaning of life. He tells me the meaning of life but he tells it to me in Hebrew. I don’t understand Hebrew. Then he wants to charge me $600 for Hebrew lessons.
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
Showing up is 80 percent of life.
The heart wants what it wants.
Magic has always been of a great interest of mine. I was an amateur magician when I was young. I used to practice and read up on it a lot. I’m well-aware of the history of magic.
If I could change the structure of existence I would do it. I could see a better way to live for everybody.
The artist can’t give you an answer that’s satisfying to the dreadful reality of your existence. So the best you can do is maybe entertain people and refresh them for an hour-and-a-half.
Your audience teaches you how to be funny.
As I got more confident, I was able to let actors improvise, and do long takes. It’s 10%, 5% you learn and experience. The rest you just have or you don’t have.
I’m a creature of the New York City streets.
Sometimes the critics will like a film, and the public doesn’t come. Sometimes the critics won’t like the film, and the public will come. It’s completely spontaneous. It’s a hazard.
I never considered myself an artist. I aspire to be an artist, but I never thought I had the depth or substance or gift to be an artist. I do think I have some talent, but it doesn’t go as far as being an artist.
I consider myself a completely lucky filmmaker. I’ve had nothing but good luck. Everything I’ve needed has come my way.
Film is more of novelty, because I’ve done so much theater over many years. I’m in love with making movies. Also, I find it easier to remember three minutes of dialogue than three hours.
Relationships are really what interest me the most. And I think, in the end, they interest most people the most. Even when you read Tolstoy or something, basically they’re about man and woman relationships.
Every time you make a movie it’s a new and different experience. You learn very little from the past. So, I’m a little bit better than I was when I first started.
I don’t think my film style has changed. I’m doing the same kind of jokes I did when I was younger.
I’m not a big believer in the sense of Jews having a monopoly on comedy.
You are much more dependent on luck than you think. People say if you want to have a good relationship, you have to work at it. But you never hear it about anything you really like, about sailing or going to soccer games.
It’s important to control yourself because life gets too complicated if you don’t, but the impulse is often there for people. Some say society should be more open. That doesn’t work either.
I like filming in New York a lot myself, but London is accommodating to me; the weather’s very good there and the conditions for shooting and the financial conditions, the artistic conditions are good, so it’s a pleasant place to shoot.