John Cassavetes Quotes

I`m sort of my own Mafia, you know, breaking my own knees.

There`s a difference between ad-libbing and improvising. And there`s a difference between not knowing what to do and just saying something. Or making choices as an actor. As a writer also, as a person who`s making a film, as a cameraman, everything is a choice. And it seems to me I don`t really have to direct anyone or write down that somebody`s getting drunk; all I have to do is say that there`s a bottle there and put a bottle there and then they`re going to get drunk. I don`t want to tell them how they`re going to get drunk. I don`t want to tell them how they`re going to get drunk, or what they would do, and I don`t want to restrict them in being able to carry out a beat, to fulfill an action. You can`t say somebody`s drunk, or in love.

"Ricardo Montalban is to improvisational acting what Mount Rushmore is to animation".

As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - but above all we must dare to fail.

People have forgotten how to relate or respond; what I`m trying to do with my movies is build something audiences can respond to.

When I started making films, I wanted to make Frank Capra pictures. But I`ve never been able to make anything but these crazy, tough pictures. You are what you are.

Say what you are. Not what you would like to be. Not what you have to be. Just say what you are. And what you are is good enough.