I never want to make a film. I don’t wake up in the morning going, ‘Ooh, I’d really love to be on set making a film today’. I’m aware that other contemporary film directors perceive film-making as what they do, as what they have to do. But I would hope that I am more catholic in my tastes. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
Is it appropriate still for a German to have a gun? I only use that as an example of a country that’s still deeply involved and engaged in the conversations about how to come to terms with the past. Certainly for that country, it’s not forgotten. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
I think it’s absolutely fascinating that in Berlin the parliament can discuss actively the role of their soldiers in Afghanistan because is it still possible, literally, for a German soldier to take up arms. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
I categorically resist this idea that films are supposed to be autobiographical and the only stories you tell are about your own life. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
You go through a process of refinement and getting rid of the excesses of your early youth in terms of your excitement about what theatre can do. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
There are a few writers that one has a relationship with that means, basically, you do whatever they say. One is Caryl Churchill, and the other is David Hare. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
England is strictly class-based. What’s surprising is how many films are still made with a load of people in silly frocks running around gardens and talking in middle-class accents. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
I’ve never been to Hollywood. I can count the number of times I’ve been to Los Angeles on my hands. I’ve never made a movie there and I’ve never been there for working reasons. The only reason to go there is for silly awards shows. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
Every now and then I have to teach directing. The thing about the theatre is that the most important thing you can do as a director is to make sure that everybody is in the same world – you have to create the world and make sure everyone buys into it. Stephen Daldry Read Quote
When I got married, my mother was very surprised. She said: ‘What on earth is going on? I thought you were gay?’ Stephen Daldry Read Quote
