A Quote by Tate Donovan

'Argo' was a great script from day one. I don't think we knew that it was going to be such a success. — © Tate Donovan
'Argo' was a great script from day one. I don't think we knew that it was going to be such a success.
I think the script is the key. Regardless of how great everybody else is working on a film, if you're working on a script that you don't think is great, you're not gonna be able to make a great film. Whereas if the script is great, then you can.
I knew that's where I was going. I knew we were going to Italy. You couldn't make this movie in America at this price. I knew it was going to be big. I knew there was going to be a ship involved and that there was going to be a set as big as the ship. I thought, well, here we go. But I knew that was where he was headed. He had been going this way for some time. All directors, once they have some success, they want to spend a whole heck of a lot of money. (Something else can't hear.)
When I read [the script] and saw that it was my fanboy wet dream of an Avengers script and that [Agent] Coulson was a big part of it, that was the great day for me. I just drove around the streets with the script in the other seat, giggling.
I can't explain it, but from the first day I stepped into a wrestling ring, I knew that one day I was going to be a big superstar. I knew that one day I would be the NWA World Heavyweight Champion like my hero, Lou Thesz.
You just knew you were in great hands with somebody so talented, so bright and with such depth. We both [with Ellen Page] loved the script and the book [Into the Forest], which I read after I read the script, and highlighted it and dog-eared it to craziness.
When I came to Mumbai, I didn't know a soul. The only person I knew was an assistant director, which, everyone agrees, is the lowest form of life on the set. So, it was not a great contact to have. So, I knew from day one that I wasn't going to be launched opposite a superstar.
When I realized that my big dream was going to come true - 'Night Shift' was a success, 'Splash' was a success, I got the job to do 'Cocoon' - suddenly, I was underway. And I knew my name was rising up the lists. I was going to have a career. I was going to be able to direct movies until I screwed it up.
The script for 'The Art of Self-Defense,' to be fair, I knew going into it that it was going to be a hard movie to get made.
It's fun to improvise, but I still think it's better to have a great script, you know, like a Charlie Kaufman script.
I usually decide if I'm going to do a movie based on if I like the script or not. I thought 'Pulling Strings' had every single element that a classic romantic comedy needs to be a success. It's very well written. The cast was amazing. It was a decision I made based on the power of the script.
When you're starting out, you know, you have to do something on a very limited budget. You're not going to be able to have great actors, and you're most likely not going to have a great script.
I think you have to ask yourself, what is the point of the script? What is the script selling? Because all scripts are political, every story is political. It either challenges or reinforces some schism or stereotype. So what is the project going to say at the end of the day? What does it tell you about the world, or what does it challenge in terms of your world?
Argo' was a very exciting project for me because I knew that I could mix together influences from my youth as a young musician and a young composer.
I would tell Vince McMahon, 'Hey! I'm telling you, I'm going to run this place one day.' And I think Vince likes to hear that. He knew I was motivated. He knew I was hungry.
You can have a great script, or a great director and a bad script, and get a great movie. Nothing really guarantees anything.
I'm getting more selective, the more I do. As an actor, you want to do a variety of things, but first and foremost, it's the script, the quality of the script and the part. If the script is great and it's a part that I believe and I believe the world, that's rarer than you think.
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