I like actors who, when you see them on screen, you sense a person, not just an actor. Alexander Payne actorpersonscreen Change image and share on social
The hardest part of this whole movie-making endeavor is finding ideas. Alexander Payne endeavorfindhard Change image and share on social
When you watch a movie, you don't want to feel like a machine made it. You want to feel a soul. Alexander Payne feelmachinemake Change image and share on social
Even if we die at 100, we're still dying young. I want at least 700 years. There's a lot of travelling and books to read and movies to see. I'm not going to squeeze it all in in 85 years. Alexander Payne bookdielot Change image and share on social
That's how I like to do it with actors, have them really go for it and I'll tell them when it's too much. It's always easier to bring it back then to push it further. Alexander Payne actorbackbring Change image and share on social
The most heinous shift in American films is that they reinforce good things like 'couples' and 'relationships.' Alexander Payne americancouplefilm Change image and share on social
'Independent' means one thing to me: It means that regardless of the source of financing, the director's voice is extremely present. It's such a pretentious term, but it's auteurist cinema. Director-driven, personal, auteurist... Whatever word you want. Alexander Payne auteuristcinemadirector share on social
I get asked, 'How can you have such failures in your films?' Well, what else is life about? There's some sense of constant failure in something. Humor gives you a distance from it. Alexander Payne askconstantdistance Change image and share on social
A book suggests a whole world and story that I could have never thought of in a million years. Alexander Payne bookmillionstory Change image and share on social
There's a bizarre insistence on how a story should be. 'The protagonist must be sympathetic!' they say. Whatever that means. I never engage in that discussion. I never use that word, 'sympathetic.' I just know 'interesting.' Alexander Payne bizarrediscussionengage share on social
