I spent a little time in Germany as a schoolboy learning German, and it's a country I knew very well, spent a lot of time in. I knew the history very well. I've always wanted to do a piece of work about the post-war period, of one sort or another. Stephen Daldry More Quotes by Stephen Daldry More Quotes From Stephen Daldry I love changing. I hate it when people try to box me in to a relationship or in a work context. Any situation where I feel boxed in freaks me out. And I feel the need to reinvent myself or I'll get bored. Stephen Daldry bored hate people Every now and then I have to teach directing. The thing about the theatre is that the most important thing you can do as a director is to make sure that everybody is in the same world - you have to create the world and make sure everyone buys into it. Stephen Daldry theatre important directors I've never been to Hollywood. I can count the number of times I've been to Los Angeles on my hands. I've never made a movie there and I've never been there for working reasons. The only reason to go there is for silly awards shows. Stephen Daldry awards silly hands You have to trust your own instincts about what is appropriate and what is not appropriate and trust your own feelings about what you can and can't show for yourself, and it'll be different for everybody. Stephen Daldry instinct different feelings England is strictly class-based. What's surprising is how many films are still made with a load of people in silly frocks running around gardens and talking in middle-class accents. Stephen Daldry garden silly running I have never been motivated by money in my life. You can't make choices based on what the financial return might be. Stephen Daldry return choices might I'm a theatre person, that's who I am. I'm happy to make sojourns into the world of movies but I'm basically a theatre director that potters off and does a couple of movies. Stephen Daldry theatre who-i-am couple You [as an actor] have a responsibility to Jonathan's book and you have a responsibility to talk about a subject that is going to be, whether it's contentious or not, it's going t bring up a huge, emotional response from people. A lot of people will say they are ready or they're not ready. Stephen Daldry emotional responsibility book The truth of the matter is, every film is imperfect. It's the nature of the beast. One of the things that people ask me all the time is, what's the difference between theater and film, and one of the biggest differences is, in the theater you always get another go. Stephen Daldry differences matter people I'm not really a director for hire. You read these scripts and go, 'This is a really great script, but Paul Greengrass would make this so much better than me.' I usually say, 'I know who would be good for this. It's not me. Stephen Daldry scripts would-be directors There are a few writers that one has a relationship with that means, basically, you do whatever they say. One is Caryl Churchill, and the other is David Hare. Stephen Daldry hares mean Actually, to be honest, this is a useful time to not be knowing what I'll be doing in 2013 or 2014, because really, for the last however many years, I've known what I've been doing for years and years ahead. You get into a cycle of non-reflection, and that gets a bit scary. Stephen Daldry knowing reflection years You go through a process of refinement and getting rid of the excesses of your early youth in terms of your excitement about what theatre can do. Stephen Daldry excess youth theatre When I got married, my mother was very surprised. She said: What on earth is going on? I thought you were gay? Stephen Daldry gay earth mother They're a redefinition of boredom... the most important thing you need to know about an awards show is where is the nearest smoking opportunity. Stephen Daldry boredom awards opportunity With journalism, films always have to be to do with some personal statement of your own. As a general rule, I resist that. In the States, a question that kept coming up was this: how can you, as a man, talk about three women? Stephen Daldry journalism three men I would love to do something for TV... I wanna do 'Kavalier & Clay' on HBO as an eight-parter. It'll be so much better as a series, honestly. Stephen Daldry clay eight hbo One of the great joys of my job is that you spend a huge amount of time investigating different areas of literature. Stephen Daldry different joy jobs Ring up your parents and ring up your kids and tell them that you love them. Stephen Daldry rings parent kids There has been one defining production for me in each decade. Stephen Daldry has-beens defining productions
