I did a dance sequence in my second short film, which was my best short film, called ‘Hairway to the Stars,’ and I think Chris Wink, the founder of Blue Man Group, was in that. It’s a black-and-white dance sequence. We were Glorious Food waiters together. David O. Russell Read Quote
When I write an email where I outlined a whole scene, it just came out of my unconscious, it comes from a deeper place. The same thing happens when the actors go, take after take, and just get lost in it. When you’re in a house, you don’t think about being in the house; you’re just there. David O. Russell Read Quote
I’m always looking for a way to surprise audiences. That’s, I feel, my job as a director. I felt that Amy Adams playing a tough woman in ‘The Fighter’ was a surprise. People saw her as a princess. David O. Russell Read Quote
You know, veterans come home and they may not be bipolar, but after they’ve been through a war with PTSD or a head injury, their families have a handful when they come home. David O. Russell Read Quote
I feel profoundly blessed. I feel it’s a great privilege to make any motion picture. David O. Russell Read Quote
The Fighter’ was about a family struggling to overcome and fighting each other sometimes, and I went back and rewrote this script which I had written for my son initially because my son has mood disorder. David O. Russell Read Quote
Some of Jimmy Stewart’s performance in ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ is some of the most disturbing performance he ever did, when he falls apart and when he breaks down. David O. Russell Read Quote
There’s nothing better than an actor who is really, really hungry to show everything they’ve got. David O. Russell Read Quote
The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That’s how I feel now, no matter what you’re doing. David O. Russell Read Quote
I’ve done my best to work from a place of humility – always looking over your shoulder saying, ‘Does this suck?’ and I think that’s a good way to work. The other way to work is where you start to think, ‘I’m on fire, I’m amazing!’ and I don’t think that’s the way to work. David O. Russell Read Quote
