I don't think screenwriting is therapeutic. It's actually really, really hard for me. It's not an enjoyable process. Charlie Kaufman More Quotes by Charlie Kaufman More Quotes From Charlie Kaufman I think I've had pretty good experiences for the most part with the people who have directed my screenplays. Charlie Kaufman screenplays people thinking I think if something resonates, even if it's surreal, it's because it is relatable and I think that that's a core issue for me. Charlie Kaufman surreal issues thinking I've had to deal, a lot, with my own sense of intimidation at meeting famous people - especially actors, but really any famous people. Charlie Kaufman intimidation actors people There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. Charlie Kaufman believe people ideas I know that as a very young child, I was afraid of death. Many children become aware of the notion of death early and it can be a very troubling thing. We're all in this continuum: I'm this age now, and if I live long enough I'll be that age. I was 20 once, I was 10, I was 4. People who are 20 now will be 50 one day. They don't know that! They know it in the abstract, but they don't know it. I'd like them to know it, because I think it gives you compassion. Charlie Kaufman compassion children thinking Sand is overrated. It's just tiny little rocks. Charlie Kaufman tiny rocks littles In a lot of movies, especially big studio ones, they're not constructed in any other way than to get people to like them and then tell their friends. It's a product. Charlie Kaufman bigs people way I'm not a celebrity. I'm intentionally and defiantly not a celebrity. I don't have any interest in it. I don't have any talent for it. I keep my personal life out of my public life as cleanly as I can. Charlie Kaufman cleanliness talent interest Before you start production, you have characters you have created without actors in mind, then all of a sudden you've got actors. They bring an enormous amount in creating these characters, and creating the dynamics between the characters that you've written. Charlie Kaufman creating mind character Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to deal with the restrictions of time and money that force you to make certain decisions you don't have to make when you're writing. Charlie Kaufman restriction decision writing I was trying to figure out what a memory feels like. Charlie Kaufman figure-skating trying memories I try to make things interesting and thought-provoking. Charlie Kaufman thought-provoking trying interesting I'm trying to tell a story and do it truthfully. Charlie Kaufman stories trying I think you just assume that your memory is just sort of a video playback of your experience, but it's nothing like that at all. It's a complete refabrication of an event and a lot of it is made up, because you're filling in spaces. Charlie Kaufman space memories thinking I have a personality that tends to be somewhat compulsive, and I do tend to think in a circular way. I dwell on the same things over and over and I try to figure out different ways of looking at the same issue. Charlie Kaufman issues personality thinking There's theater in life, obviously, and there's life in theater. Charlie Kaufman theater I want to create situations that give people something to think about. Charlie Kaufman giving people thinking I studied acting at Boston University. I was in the theater department there. Somewhere in there I decided that wasn't what I was going to do and I went to the B.F.A. film program at N.Y.U. Charlie Kaufman boston film acting I'm not into extreme sports or something. I just live a quiet life. Charlie Kaufman just-live quiet sports The way I write is very much without kind of a goal. I have something I'm interested in and then I decide I'm going to explore it. I don't know where the characters are going to go, I don't know what the movie is going to do or what the screenplay is going to do. For me, that's the way to keep it alive. Charlie Kaufman goal writing character
