Top 40 Quotes & Sayings by Jay Duplass

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American director Jay Duplass.
Last updated on April 17, 2025.
Jay Duplass

Lawrence Jay Duplass is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films The Puffy Chair (2005), Cyrus (2010), and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, Mark Duplass.

I went to film school at UT Austin. I learned a lot, and that school's good for puking up all your bad movies early and quick. But ultimately, no one can teach you to be an artist.
Ultralight backpackers do some stupid stuff, like instead of bringing a toothbrush, you saw one off right below the bristles and just carry the head.
I had to live on $17,000 a year until I was 33, because I was a failed artist until I was 29, when I made my first short film that went to Sundance. — © Jay Duplass
I had to live on $17,000 a year until I was 33, because I was a failed artist until I was 29, when I made my first short film that went to Sundance.
I guess I need a hobby. Currently my primary hobby is complaining.
I think it's rare for anyone that a really accomplished, amazing director calls you up and says, 'I want to make a movie around you, and I want it to be this.'
I think it's hard for quieter, more introverted people to get into acting.
It is very common for people to come up to the cast members and say, 'Our family is OK now because of 'Transparent.''
The idea that a lot of sons marry their mothers subconsciously, which I have done in my own life, was interesting to explore.
Now that I'm acting, I've realized that I don't have a lot of barriers. Certain actors have a hard time with anger or with joy or with whatever, and, I don't know, I don't seem to have those barriers.
I think the press mistakenly thought that all of these 'mumblecore' filmmakers were banded together in a similar ideology, but the truth is that we were all just using the same digital camera and helping each other make our movies because we were broke, and we were the only idiots willing to do it.
I loved movies. They inspired me more than anything growing up and wanted to do for others what those movies have done for me. I do a lot of other creative stuff but am not very good at it.
My whole life, I've been the one in my family that's always too emotional and too sensitive. That's, like, my role in my family.
Independent filmmaking burns off a lot of storytelling fat. — © Jay Duplass
Independent filmmaking burns off a lot of storytelling fat.
If we are to maintain a relevant and just industry, we must all open our eyes to the obvious lack of equality in wages, representation, and access.
In ultralight backpacking, modified gear pieces come into play, like a tent you hoist with your trekking poles.
In my short acting career, I've been in incredible relationships with incredible women.
I always tell young filmmakers, don't go make a feature. Make a short. When you're ready to make a feature, people will tell you. Your friends will tell you. Your fans will tell you. Festivals will tell you. Listen to your audience.
I have an appreciation for strong women.
I do own a unicycle, which I use for workout purposes as opposed to doing tricks.
I'm obsessed with 'The Americans.' It's one of my favorite shows. I also love 'Baskets' - low-brow, high-art comedy.
From casting to hiring to awards races like the Emmys, taking active steps toward inclusion will make for richer stories, a stronger democracy, and a better world.
The first 600 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, before you get into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, is heavy on desert. One of the things I carry with me in the desert is an umbrella. People think that's insane. It has a shiny top to it, so it looks totally ridiculous, but the difference can be 20 degrees.
I had gone to a Catholic prep school where everyone was rich and having kids by the time they were 30.
Filmmaking is a very complex form - ya know, acting, lighting, screenwriting, storytelling, music, editing - all these things have to come together.
When you grow up in New Orleans, like, the only way to be an artist is to be a 55-year-old black musician. That's basically what we wanted to be. If you had asked me very truthfully what I wanted to be when I was 16, the answer would've been, 'I want to be a 55-year-old black musician.'
I grew up Catholic, and I am a pretty shy person.
On 'Transparent,' I work closely with LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming people who are now my close friends - truth be told, we're all more like family.
I grew up in a small, old-school Catholic world, imprinted with an above-average number of categories and judgments. — © Jay Duplass
I grew up in a small, old-school Catholic world, imprinted with an above-average number of categories and judgments.
My wife is a social worker and a feminist, and it feels natural to me to have these relationships with these powerhouse women that I have had.
I thought acting was showboating.
Everyone I know who is having success in film right now is there because of persistence.
Breakups usually don't happen down by the river with beautiful lighting. The moment you realize your relationship may be over might happen in Aisle 11 of Rite-Aid and the person you're with has disregarded your feelings and your needs by bringing you the wrong toothbrush again for the fourth time.
We don't work in the traditional TV format where we're like writing concurrently to shooting. Like, we really view it as a large feature film.
The worst question really comes from the attitude of the asker and it usually comes in the form of "What was your inspiration for the film?"
You can be a lot more subtle on TV, which is funny because I feel like TV is known for being the opposite of that. The thing we experience in life is that things are not overly dramatic, and things often happen in really small ways.
It's just that the nature of being a director is being incredibly overwhelmed with getting the shots right, dealing with the locations, and then there's a two-year-old in the scene, and all that stuff - you know, there's a lot of kids in scenes.
An interview is only as good as both parties are willing to give to the interview and that includes the interviewer.
I went to film school at UT Austin. I learned a lot and that school's good for puking up all your bad movies early and quick. But ultimately, no one can teach you to be an artist.
Our brains will destroy ourselves if we don't put it outward. — © Jay Duplass
Our brains will destroy ourselves if we don't put it outward.
Most people in Hollywood are making about 10 percent of all the things they're considering; I am making 95 percent.
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