I was in the equity-trading department at Merrill Lynch. I was there in 1987 when the market crashed. Terence Winter More Quotes by Terence Winter More Quotes From Terence Winter I guess ... I'm going to get that ice cream sundae they give you on the airplane. I usually pass on that, but I think I'm actually going to get extra whipped cream and maybe even the chocolate syrup. I'm really winging it here. I'm going to be flying. It's really a little too early to start drinking. Terence Winter airplane drinking thinking Now, the big box office successes are superhero stories. It seems there's a lowest common denominator mentality, in terms of movies that are almost purely visual, that anyone can understand anywhere in the world. Good robot, bad robot: they fight. You don't need to know anything apart from that. And then we can make toys that look like that robot - and sell those toys or video games. Terence Winter fighting office games I have a rule: I will not alter the basic history of a real-life character to suit our fictional needs in a big way. Terence Winter real character needs I'm always amazed by writers who say, "Oh you know I had a half hour so I sat down and wrote a little bit." I just need a real big chunk of time to sit down and focus. That's my process. Terence Winter focus real needs I started with the book Boardwalk Empire and then immersed myself in the history of Atlantic City, World War I, the temperance movement, Prohibition, pop culture. I even read the news and magazines of the period just to soak in it. That was before I even started thinking of the story. Terence Winter war book thinking Any distraction tends to get in the way of being an effective gangster. Terence Winter gangsters distraction way As Oscar tells to Chalky, eventually we all run out of road... Terence Winter running I was always interested in the 1920s and the gangster world, in general. Terence Winter 1920s gangster always world When Prohibition was first enacted in 1920, most people stockpiled alcohol, thinking they'd have enough to last them for years. By 1923, that was starting to run out, so your average person started to rely more and more on criminals. Terence Winter your alcohol people thinking I've always thought that when they say ignorance is bliss, the converse to that is that knowledge is hell. The more you know, the bleaker things can get. Terence Winter you hell ignorance knowledge I think people, whether they realize they're doing it or not, seek out distractions to take their minds off what they know is bad behavior. Terence Winter bad think behavior people J. Edgar Hoover very famously denied the existence of organized crime up until the Appalachian Meeting, I think, in 1957. It was interesting to me that he clearly had to know that there was such a thing as organized crime and organized criminals as far back as the '20s. Terence Winter meeting think know me One of the nicest things I ever read about our show was that a critic felt 'Boardwalk Empire' could be the beginning of the blur between television and cinema, because the production values are so high and the storytelling is so compelling. Terence Winter beginning blur cinema television During seventy years of TV, the audience came to feel that the rules are, you can't kill the second lead on your TV show! Whatever's going to happen, it's all okay because there's no way they can kill the star. Terence Winter rules feel you way As a writer, I've tried to avoid strong opinions about morality. You just want to present things as they are and let the viewer come to their own conclusion. Terence Winter own you morality strong I think that 'Vinyl''s faster-paced. I think 'Boardwalk' was much more luxurious in its storytelling. Terence Winter i-think more think storytelling There's nothing funnier for me than taking two characters and throwing them into a pressure cooker and letting them turn on each other. Especially if they already tend to be loud, aggressive, alpha types. That's sort of everything from 'The Honeymooners' to 'Goodfellas' to 'The Sopranos.' Terence Winter nothing everything me pressure It's challenging, in a way, but if you depict anyone with all the colors of human emotion and show those moments - with their families, with their children - the worst of us have elements of real humanity. Terence Winter colors you humanity children If you lose your house and your life savings to a broker, you'd probably throw them in the same category as the worst gangsters in history. Everybody's definition of carnage and evil is different. Terence Winter you evil life history We may live like saints, but when it comes to our fantasy life, everybody's got a little larceny in their soul. Terence Winter live fantasy soul life
