I wrote an episode for ‘thirtysomething,’ and a producer said, ‘That’s really good, but what is it about? What does it say about you? What questions are you asking yourself?’ I had never thought about that. This comment changed who I was, because it made me look at my own soul, the dark corners in my soul, and accept that dark side. Paul Haggis Read Quote
Crash’ came from personal experience. I saw things inside me from living in L.A. that made me uncomfortable. I saw horrible things in people and saw terrible things in myself. I saw a black director completely humiliated, but the three people around me just thought it was funny. ‘No,’ I said, ‘that is selling your soul.’ Paul Haggis Read Quote
Even in a comedy, you have to make people feel. You have to put your hand inside their soul and twist out their heart. Paul Haggis Read Quote
I don’t pay much attention to the press. My films always get good reviews and bad reviews. I just try to make the best film I can. Paul Haggis Read Quote
You have to have empathy, knowledge and compassion for your characters if you’re a writer. Paul Haggis Read Quote
I don’t know how much credit I can take for ‘Walker, Texas Ranger,’ because I only worked on it for three weeks. I re-wrote the pilot, and then my name was on it forever. Paul Haggis Read Quote
Crash’ was incredibly personal to me. So was ‘In the Valley of Elah.’ There were things in ‘The Next Three Days’ that were questions I was asking myself but couldn’t answer, like how far would you go for love? Can you believe in somebody who can’t even believe in themselves? But this is highly personal. Paul Haggis Read Quote
You can’t plan for people to like your movies. I knew that people were not going to run in droves to the theater for the ‘In the Valley of Elah.’ I knew they might not want to see it, but I still had to the movie; I felt very strongly about it. Wanting to keep telling a good story is what you want to do, a compelling story. Paul Haggis Read Quote
The wonderful thing about Clint is you can never second guess how he is going to react to anything. Paul Haggis Read Quote
