There's something really appealing about the simplicity of black-and-white images.
— Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Storytelling in general is a communal act. Throughout human history, people would gather around, whether by the fire or at a tavern, and tell stories. One person would chime in, then another, maybe someone would repeat a story they heard already but with a different spin. It's a collective process.
While I'm not a celebrity, it's such a weird concept that society has cooked up for us. Astronauts and teachers are much more amazing than actors.
To me, a sex scene in a movie generally means a gratuitous scene that doesn't serve the story but gives a kind of excuse - we've got these two actors, we want to see them naked, so let's bring in the music and the soft light.
When I was a teenager I loved acting, but I really just loved it for myself. I didn't like the fact that anyone else saw the work I was doing. When I moved to New York, I started to realize that I wanted people to see the stuff that I was doing, and I wanted it to mean something to them.
Hollywood has the idea that movies have to be dumb. But especially movies for or about teenagers have to be really dumb!
The Internet is allowing us to get back to what's really more natural, which is that storytelling is a shared thing. It's our natural way to be communal.
That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry. It broadcasted its message and everyone else in the world just had to listen. Now the internet is allowing what used to be a monologue to become a dialogue. I think that's healthy and actually restoring a more natural way.
The movies I watch and the music I listen to and the books I read - those are important to me. It's very important to me, and I don't know what I would do without those things.
Actors didn't use to be celebrities. A hundred years ago, they put the theaters next to the brothels.
I was just watching baby videos of me and I was obviously an exhibitionist.
I was such a big Dustin Hoffman fan when I was young.
It's less about what you do and more about who you are doing it with.
I didn't want to just work within Hollywood when I started a production company. I wanted to be able to collaborate with great artists from all over the world.
The only thing I want to do is stuff with people who care about what they're doing.
Ummm... well, the only thing I want to do is stuff with people who care about what they're doing, which sounds obvious, but it's really not.
If you're going to put yourself above everybody else, you might end up alone.
Most scripts are bad. I read a lot of them.
