A Quote by Ben Gazzara

You can do more of independent films. A Hollywood picture, you'll do one a year, one of those big blockbusters, right? Then you've gotta go to the gym to get in shape to do all of the running and shooting and diving and falling and hitting and all that stuff they do today.
I teach at USC. I have a big class of 360 kids, only about a fifth of whom are film majors. I don't just show the Hollywood blockbusters. I show independent films, foreign films, documentaries.
I studied cinema at the university so I had a very classical approach to it. I studied all those silent films, and then the films from the 1940's, the Nouvelle Vague, the late Hollywood films. Now I realize, as a young actor, that it's one of my duties to actually be aware of what is today's industry and today's next big directors.
You know, independent films have been institutionalized, practically. Every studio has got a boutique arthouse label. There's like, 18 different independent film-financing funds. In fact, I think the children of those films are getting made. A more interesting question is whether those films are going to get seen and appreciated.
We have to be a democracy and demand certain things even after that individual gets in the White House. All those promises those dudes and women are making on the campaign trail, we gotta make sure those promises come to fruition and that doesn't happen by just voting and letting them get in and then falling back. Nah, you gotta be active. You gotta make your voice heard and be constantly involved in what's going on.
I've always worked out. I've always gone to the gym. But it was always a chore, and it was always, like, 'Man, I've gotta go do this because if I don't I'll get all dumpy and out of shape and then no one will hire me for good roles.'
I loved the independent spirit of the whole experience, instead of doing a big Hollywood picture, or something like that where I would have felt more out of place.
I do like musical films more than big Hollywood films, especially those by Jacques Demi and Vincent Minelli.
It's been very much in the blood since I started imagining films or shooting with 8mm when I was a kid. I made some films and thought about films, but then I went into writing. Becket is something that's definitely on the cards. We have to see where that fits in the schedule, because it's a big picture and I have a lot of writing obligations at the moment. I'm wary of anything with a budget over a certain amount.
There are always at least five good films at the end of the year to get nominated, but generally speaking nowadays, it's more of the independent films that are recognized.
The films that I go to see at the cinema are not Hollywood blockbusters particularly. I've not got anything against them... I'm in them! But I don't go and spend my money on them.
I've been influenced by a lot of films. And a lot of them are the typical interesting, artsy films. But I haven't talked enough about how there are those few big blockbusters that really rock your world.
You never have any idea where your movie's going to go when you're shooting - you're in this little bubble. Everything you care about is getting the next step right: getting the script right, finding the right actors, shooting it. Then you spend half a year in a dark room editing your film, and you don't talk to anybody.
Nearly anything you need to get at the gym you can get naturally.A lot of training I do is running up hills, running up steps, just in the woods behind my house. Jumping on to things. All these things you can do anywhere, you don't have to go to the gym.
I suppose all moms have an idea who they hope their daughters will be. Like a connect-the-dots picture where you think you know what shape it will become. But then it's the daughter who draws the lines, and she might connect the dots you didn't intend, making a whole different picture. So I've gotta trust the dots she's given me, and she's gotta trust me to draw the picture myself.
There was a golden era in film-making in Hollywood back in the 1970s, and although there is some great independent film-making in America, it's actually very hard to get independent films made in the United States. It's much more feasible from Europe.
When you're younger you don't care so much, but as you get older you have a family and stuff like that. But I've always kept my foot in theatre and I've kept my foot in independent film, so I'm really happy going back and forth. So, if I can't find the meaty roles in studio films, then I'll go back and dig up a little independent where I can flex my muscles a little bit.
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