There are plenty of writers who are going to become a director after their next job, but no one will believe you’re a director unless you believe it. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
I always think any circumstances can be funny. Not that I’m irresponsible, but when things go wrong, I always come up with a joke or think of something funny to say. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
Movie dialogue is movie dialogue. It can sound real, but no one speaks that way. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
It’s as boring to see a completely evil villain as it is to see a completely good guy. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
I’m not like a Sears Catalog of ideas. I don’t have that many ideas. I’ve more or less written them over the years. Usually, I come up with a situation or a character, and it rattles around in my head until the story or the plot emerges. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
Working on an adaptation is not as satisfying, because it’s not your original work: you’re interpreting. With ‘L.A. Confidential,’ I loved the book. In that case, I felt I was guardian of the work, staying as true to the novel as I could. I’ve since met the novelist, and he loves the movie and the script. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
You can write anything you want on paper, like blowing up the bridge on the River Kwai, but when you actually have to do that as a director, it’s not the same. Ninety percent of directing is not creative – it’s putting the theoretical into the practical world. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
The studio is spending great amounts of money, and they want some insurance they will get money back. They go for the middle of the road, broad in appeal. It’s restrictive. It’s a constant struggle, but if you give in, you’re just making cottage cheese, and that’s the end of it. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
I was in a bookstore one afternoon, and I stumbled across this book called ‘A Guide to Film Schools.’ I always loved movies growing up and had never even conceived that it was something you could do for a living. Realizing most of them were in Los Angeles and knowing that was warm, I ended up applying. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
If you write an original, it’s like you went in and dug a well, and you hit oil. But an adaptation, it’s like the oil well’s on fire, and they bring you in to put the fire out and get it working again – or something like that. Brian Helgeland Read Quote
