I think it's a bit short-sighted to play any character and not explore, in some respects, the way they act when things get really bad.
— Rebecca Hall
My friends have noticed that if I suddenly go through a couple of months' unemployment, there seems to be a correlation that I don't ever tend to wear the same outfit twice. There will be such strange combinations of clothes because I'm probably a bit creatively stifled, so it's coming out in my wardrobe.
Your principal motive on a movie set is to get the film made, but on a Woody Allen set, there's an ulterior thing that goes on, which is, 'Did you have a conversation with Woody? How friendly have you been with him? Am I liked by him?'
There's so much crap attached to acting: the fame aspect, the ego aspect, the 'Am I good, am I bad, am I being judged, who likes me, who doesn't like me...'
I felt very fulfilled after doing 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' because I'd always wanted to work with Woody Allen. That was like a lifelong dream, and that was thrilling for me, to enter that world.
You sit there, and you argue and you argue, and you sort of bully the hell out of the text until you're quite sure what it's revealing, and then you perform it.
Anyone who commits an act of violence to themselves or others is worth consideration in the sense that there must be something that brought them to that point, whether it's a mental health issue or otherwise.
I don't have regular TV; I have Apple TV, so I pick what I watch, which is perhaps not a good thing. I read all the big publications and also listen to a lot of podcasts.
There is no way of knowing if a film is going to be good.
We all relate to having highs and lows. Everyone gets depressed.
You have to start from a place of trying to create a character.
If you imagine yourself to be someone who is very uncomfortable in their own skin, then it does funny things to your voice.
Yes, I'm a complete itinerant. I keep making attempts not to be, but then circumstances make me uproot and go somewhere else again. It's not the worst thing in the world at all; I love it. In fact, I'm probably horribly addicted to it.
This is how much of a music geek I am: if I have a day with nothing to do, one of my favourite things is to just sit at my computer and make playlists of pretty much anything.
I'm a very private person. I barely tell my friends what's going on half the time, so the idea that I should then talk to the world about what is going on seems anathema to me. People can say what they want. I'm not going to change anyone's mind.
It's not like I particularly have an interest in creepiness for creepy's sake.
The kind of films I want to make are struggling to get made. And if they are getting made, they're getting made on shoestring budgets with not enough time.
In high drama or high tragedy or anything, it's not really human unless there's some humor at the same time. And vice versa. So I guess I tend to gravitate towards projects which tread a dodgy tightrope between two things, which aren't really one or another.
I love being able to express myself through what I wear - and for it to be a way of expressing uniqueness and individuality.
I've just started to get really envious when I go into people's houses and see books on a shelf.
Even if the film doesn't come out quite as you'd hoped, the process can also be very rewarding. I feel that way about a film called 'Lay the Favorite' that I made with Stephen Frears. I did that because the character was a real leap for me. The film doesn't quite all add up internally, but I feel very proud of what I did on it.
I did 'Iron Man' because I was curious about those massive movies that were taking over the summers every year, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about.
I don't think it's helpful to put them all in a box and say people are evil and freaks because they have gotten to the point where they have fallen out of the community of what it is to be a human being. That's worthy of investigation.
It's not often you get female characters who don't fit into a box.
I've been listening to 'Chapo Trap House' - they're quite radical. Every time I listen to it, my brain feels opened up.
I don't know how you make a living without a few personal compromises.
There are a lot of movies about misfits that are quite cool, that kind of glamorize it on some level. I think there are fewer films, certainly with a lady at the center, about the agony of what it's like to feel like you're not accepted, and you're different, and somehow you're weird.
I don't believe that all actors should end up being directors.
The voice is always the starting place for me with a character.
As someone who works and travels as much, you could feel... A bit rootless?
I was a sort of New York intellectual when I was 16. I wanted to dress like Annie Hall when I was 18.
I think I have a job, which is to present a character in a story and entertain you and divert you with my work - that's it.
At some point, you have to be willing to accept other people's opinions. I think that's helpful.
I don't think I can boast about him. 'Hey, my dad is a British institution; he's done all these incredible things and I'm really proud of him.' There is a certain baggage that comes with that in England.
When you work with filmmakers, and it's their first film, there's an exuberance and optimism, which is quite... There's no room for being jaded. Thinking that you know it all.
I love clothes. I've never actively followed trends, but I definitely know what I like and what I don't like. I think fashion is a really important and empowering thing. I don't think it's superficial, actually, I think it's very important.
I love the solitary, romantic idea of writing.
Nobody engages in a film, regardless of what your job is in it, to make a bad one.
The kind of career that I want is not easy as a lady to manifest, because everyone wants a lady to be likable.
A lot of people go through life trying to perform normalcy, and I think you can relate to that.
We can't constantly tell stories of heroes. We have to hear the other stories, too, about people in dire straits who make bad choices.
I've worked on so many films where the script is one thing and then, somewhere down the line - on set, sometimes - it changes, and there's zero I can do about it.
Directors assume I'm, like, establishment.
I want to try to make difficult people somehow relatable.
For better or worse, I don't necessarily categorize myself as a method actor; I'm not going to make claims that I stayed in character 24/7.
I'm a bit nerdy about accents. I love it.
If I could be a musician, I'd do it. I love singing.
I grew up watching his movies; I know everyone did, but I really feel that a lot of my formative years were informed by Woody Allen films.
Steven Spielberg was a huge part of my childhood, like everyone's, I guess.
I don't want to constantly be making sacrifices. It feels like it's really difficult for the films I dream about making to turn up.
