Judd Apatow Quotes & Sayings

I started a radio show where I interviewed comics.And I interviewed Leno and Seinfeld and John Candy and Father Guido Sarducci and Garry Shandling, all when I was 16.And they kind of told me what to do. — Judd Apatow

You want the audience to get your movie, and you want the audience to like it. It's as simple as that. If they don't understand what you're trying to say, you've failed. Of course, you can't get 100 percent of the crowd to understand the movie, but you know when you've reached the people you want to reach. — Judd Apatow

Everyone is wounded. No one is healthy enough to never screw up, when you're in combat. But, I like to show that, and I like to show how people get back from that. You have to forgive each other. When you're in the middle of a long-term commitment, the essence of it is that everyone is going to have good days and bad days, and it's about how you continue to rejoin forces. — Judd Apatow

I've had movies bomb with terrible reviews, I've had movies make a lot of money with terrible reviews, I've had movies get good reviews and make money. And I like it best when the movies do well and the reviewers like them. — Judd Apatow

I think it's fun to have people see everything at once, and then I think certain shows are very well-suited to being on every week and being spread out over months. — Judd Apatow

I remember before I did my HBO special, Chris [Rock] screamed at me - in a loving way, but still. He was like, "You need to do 200 shows in a row and a month straight on the road before you even think about recording a special!" And I had literally booked two weeks on the road and then went right into the recording. It put me in a panic, but it also made me work harder and made me realize that everyone works differently, and that's okay. — Judd Apatow

I don't think because a story has humor in it means it's brief. For some reason, people think anything that's 30 minutes is a comedy, comedies can be longer or shorter, so can dramas. — Judd Apatow

I literally cannot remember one joke. — Judd Apatow

I think people like Lena Dunham really opened up the door to what was possible, and they've inspired young women to go into filmmaking and writing and directing and acting in a way that maybe they didn't before, because now there is a path and there are jobs. — Judd Apatow

I love the Lonely Island. I wish there was more Lonely Island movies. — Judd Apatow

I don't really get attached to anything. I'm pretty brutal about cutting stuff. With each successful movie, I've discovered anything that's not connected to the immediate story is going to be cut out of it. — Judd Apatow

I feel the responsibility to make things which on some level have something positive to say. — Judd Apatow

I like to make movies the way people made movies in the '70s, where they lived and died with these stories, and cared about them, and went to war for them, and they all said something they wanted to say. — Judd Apatow

I test the movies a lot, and if the audience says they love the movie, we know we're on the right track. And if they tell me they hate it, I try to figure out what I've done wrong. But every time out, the audience wants me to go deeper, they want to know more about the characters, and they don't want these movies to be shallow. So they really urge me to tell them a complicated story, and then when I do so, they're thrilled — Judd Apatow

A lot of times, it's easy to trim the movie 'cause you just start losing things that you thought would be there just for amusement's sake that actually are not funny. My favorite part of the process is seeing it with an audience. I do about eight previews to see how things are working. — Judd Apatow

Up until 'Bridesmaids', the general consensus was that women preferred comedy a bit softer. — Judd Apatow

There are people that entertainment is something they do at the end of a long hard day at work, and they want to be entertained and have it over quickly. They're like, "Entertain me fast!" — Judd Apatow

I definitely learned to embrace the quiet moments onstage from Garry Shandling - relaxing and not fighting with the crowd, not raising your voice, not ever trying to win them over. — Judd Apatow

Back then, you seemed like a crazy person when you were trying to push the boundaries of network TV. People looked at you, and they were offended by the fact that you didn't follow the generic rules of what was expected on network TV. — Judd Apatow

There are only so many hilarious actors so when they cross-pollinate, people assume it's always the same actors and directors. — Judd Apatow

I'm getting older, so how people face grave circumstances is of interest to me. And you meet a lot of people who are very courageous, and it doesn't reek of something funny to write about, but I always think that the higher the stakes, the bigger the laughs can be, and the more emotional the scenes can be. — Judd Apatow

I think that everything I do tends to root for the underdog. — Judd Apatow

There's something honorable about holding out for love and not breaking up for the sake of the baby. I see people get divorced, and there is a part of me that thinks, I wonder how hard they tried? — Judd Apatow

I always see other people as predecessors and admire them. — Judd Apatow

My way of dealing with the world has always been to make fun of it and observe it but not take part in it. That's how I became a writer. But when you have kids, suddenly you have to be part of things. It leads almost to a breakdown because your whole defense mechanism is now really destructive. — Judd Apatow

I need to find people who I respect so I can respect them, and they'll like being respected so they'll respect me, and that's like a marriage. — Judd Apatow

The only way you survive on all these services is if you're groundbreaking. There's pressure to be groundbreaking, which is the greatest thing that's ever happened. It's a bizarre aspect of what's happened with all of these subscription services is everyone is trying to outdo each other by doing great things. — Judd Apatow

I always thought that Seth [Rogen] was a fun, caustic, bombastic, sweet, underdog-type of person that I would root for the way you used to root for Bill Murray or John Candy in "Stripes." Seth had something that very few people you encounter have: he had a writer's mind and he had his own comic point of view. — Judd Apatow

I try to just save a fresh, clear head for whoever I'm working with, so hopefully it's helpful that there's someone who doesn't have to sit in the editing room for 12 hours a day, and who's blinded by the massive footage and options that they have. — Judd Apatow

If you make a bad movie about stand-up, then comedians will mock you for the rest of your life. — Judd Apatow

I wanted to see how funny I could be without making the choice that every 10 minutes something big and visual had to happen. — Judd Apatow

You know, I'm a big comedy fan. — Judd Apatow

I have to go back to vinyl every once in awhile, even if my kids don't want to hear it. I'm much more likely to be listening to Wilco or the Avett Brothers. — Judd Apatow

When people lose their jobs, they can either get another job or be entrepreneurs. In the music industry, a lot of people have attempted the latter by starting their own labels, but in the age of digital downloads, it's very difficult to succeed. — Judd Apatow

In terms of the emotional underpinning, if you've been in relationships, you understand what's happening. — Judd Apatow

The great thing about Eminem is, he's just hysterical. You forget, people like Eminem because he is riotously funny. And he's a great actor. — Judd Apatow

you have to have a dream before you can execute it. That the people who succeed are the ones who think through what the next stages of their careers might be, and then work incredibly hard, day after day, to attain their goals. They don't just flop around like fish. They have a vision, and they work their asses off to make it a reality. — Judd Apatow

The ones [comedies] that I always liked, whether it's Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, or Fast Times of Ridgemont High, they were all about two hours, or a little bit over two hours. With that extra 15 or 20 minutes, you can get to real character and you're not just stuck in plot. — Judd Apatow

You hear people say: "One day, when I'm in a good position I can make my passion project." I've seen a lot of people get into that position and not make it. — Judd Apatow

Cocky nerds. My wife and I always talk about it. It's people who think they don't think ill of themselves --they actually think that there's something special about themselves but no one's noticed it... And that's what makes them interesting. They have an air of superiority as they're getting pummeled. — Judd Apatow

Every time I'm in editing, there's always a moment where you think, "Maybe this should be six or seven minutes shorter, but I'm losing character and story that I think is important." When I like things, I'm not in a rush for them to end. — Judd Apatow

Every day I live by only one rule, be a good guy. — Judd Apatow

I don't want to be ordinary. I'm willing to do the work. I'm willing to suffer the indignities of comedy because I want to be great. I don't want to just be good. I want to be great. — Judd Apatow

One of my fears is that I'm suddenly not going to be funny, but still think I am. That's like my nightmare that I can wake up in a cold sweat from. — Judd Apatow

I love when people work together who know each other very well. Some of my favourite movies are people who are close friends or families. — Judd Apatow

All my cuts are always about three hours, at the start, mainly because any scene in the movie that's 90 seconds, I probably shot a five-minute version of. If you just extrapolate that through the whole movie, I have a very long version of every scene, usually because, if there's one funny joke, I'll shoot five because I don't know if the one I like is going to work. I'll get back-ups because my biggest fear is to be in previews, testing the movie, and a joke doesn't work, but I have no way to fix it because I have no other line. — Judd Apatow

I hear Amy Schumer on Howard Stern, and I think, "I wish there was a movie that starred her, because she's so interesting," and then at some point I go, "I guess I have to get involved, because it's not happening right now. Maybe I should help try to make that happen." — Judd Apatow

If we really talked about what's wrong with you, you'd need a 7-1/2-hour movie and nobody would know what category to put it in! — Judd Apatow

The thing that is incredibly helpful is that we screen the movies and we ask the audience if they like it or not and we ask a lot of questions and do testing on the movies. For comedies, at least, it's very helpful. If they're not laughing and they don't say that they loved it, then I have screwed up. — Judd Apatow

I really think more about being honest and truthful about feelings and how people behave for the movies that I direct, but I also love movies like Zohan and Anchorman, just balls to the wall, how much can you make people laugh in one 90 minute period. — Judd Apatow

Most people are really fighting to not be adults. And, when it happens, it's a big transition. And a lot of that is just awful. It's awful to have to get a job and really be responsible for other people. And it is funny, too. Like, we're all kind of little idiot kids trying to act like we know what we are doing. — Judd Apatow

My grandfather was Bob Shad, one of those legendary jazz and blues producers - he worked with Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington, and he produced Janis Joplin's album [1967's Big Brother & the Holding Company]. He always owned small labels as well - he had a label called Mainstream Records in the 70s. — Judd Apatow

It's funny when people debate about music, because they get so passionate about what they enjoy. — Judd Apatow

I've come to believe that the simpler the title, the better. Whenever I try to get cute with it, it seems to be a problem but if it's just The 40-Year-Old Virgin, people seem to know what they're in for. — Judd Apatow

No matter how much you love someone, on a bad day, you could say something terrible. All of the little things that you are saving to say, that you're mad about but never express, sometimes come out, all at once. We all have these terrible moments. That's just part of being human. — Judd Apatow

They say certain people aren't good soldiers because if they're in a foxhole all night - you know, if you're creative and smart, you're thinking about all the different ways someone is going to blow your head off. But if you're not that smart, you're just like chilling out. And I feel like that in life. I'm just in the foxhole all fucking day thinking about everything that's going to go wrong in every possible way. — Judd Apatow

Television is much more difficult because at every moment the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You're in a constant debate with a gun at your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it's hard to win the arguments. — Judd Apatow

Something economically changed. It used to be that you needed 20 million people to watch a TV show for it to be a hit. Now, with just a few million people watching, you're considered very successful, for a lot of these streaming services, or cable channels. Now, that allows people to do much more creatively ambitious work, because it's not lowest common denominator. — Judd Apatow

I think the story should always determine the visual approach. There are situations where you want things to feel alive and like life, and there are situations that should have some magic and the separation with the grain. — Judd Apatow

The only thing worse than a crappy TV show which Paddy Chayevsky couldn't have conceived in his worst nightmare is two megacorps fighting over who thought of the crappy show first. — Judd Apatow

I'm just trying to be truthful and collaborate with people who have interesting things to say. — Judd Apatow

It's so difficult to shock America these days. — Judd Apatow

Back in the old days, everyone was shocked if a band had a sponsor for their tour. Now, Bob Dylan can do a commercial for Victoria's Secret and people don't really blink; the Beatles' songs are in all sorts of commercials these days and it doesn't seem to offend anybody. The times are changing. — Judd Apatow

Mel, if you're going to go up to the bell, ring it. — Judd Apatow

I often say that ... I'm just involved in comedy, so I can be around it. — Judd Apatow

If anything is leaking, I try to plug the hole. — Judd Apatow

Deer are like dogs. Except for Bambi, they're pretty personality-less. — Judd Apatow

If you look at who drives the box office numbers at these films, it's men. — Judd Apatow

I'm making a movie about relationships, and I'm surrounded by guys scared of talking to girls. — Judd Apatow

I start casting early in the writing process, so I can tailor the script to the gifts of the actors. — Judd Apatow

People are disappearing from movies, and normal human behaviour is disappearing from movies ... You are not always fighting a creature in life. That's part of life, it's a pretty big part of life, but it's not all of life. — Judd Apatow

I love Coldplay. I love Steely Dan - Steely Dan's probably one of my top three bands of all time. — Judd Apatow

I just try to be true to myself and write about things I'm passionate about. I think what most people don't like about movies is they can tell that most movies are a product, and they don't mean that much to the people who make them. — Judd Apatow

I put on a big show when I write something I think is funny. — Judd Apatow

I had a very specific type of terrible network experience where I was told that people like Seth Rogen and Jason Segel weren't leads, so it truly drove me mad. So to be trusted is all I value. — Judd Apatow

Watching shows on Netflix is a different experience because most people are sitting there for three to five hours. Very few people even watch one episode. So it's not like a movie theater where you want to the movies to be shorter so you can go urinate. You can pause and urinate at home, and if something is longer, you're allowed to stop and eat breakfast and then watch eight more episodes. — Judd Apatow

Don't be a jerk. Try to love everyone. Give more than you take. And do it despite the fact that you only really like about seven out of 500 people. — Judd Apatow

Marc: Why are we so afraid of joy? Judd: That's the question. And I've thought about it a lot, and I think it's because we think right behind joy is a knife that will cut our throat if we really feel it. It's almost like a laugh - your chin goes up and your throat is exposed. If I laugh too loud, someone will slit my throat. That's the terror of joy. — Judd Apatow

If the movie's not communicating, it's not working. — Judd Apatow

I'm always begging people like James Brooks and Cameron Crowe to come to screenings, to see what they make of it, and they're always ridiculously helpful. They also keep me brave enough to commit to what I'm trying to do. They can be great cheerleaders for risk-taking. — Judd Apatow

I have a four-and-a-half-year-old and, when she was two and a half, she would make my wife and I do voices, like Woody and Jessie the Cowgirl, or Elmo, or Yogi Bear and Booboo. If we didn't do it, she would scream at us. So, my wife and I would have adult conversations as Yogi Bear and Booboo. It was just a nightmare year. — Judd Apatow

When the entire country was watching one show there was a major discussion happening; is it possible for that to happen in a 1 million channel universe? — Judd Apatow

I don't think there's that many great 90-minute comedies. — Judd Apatow

Sometimes you need to get away for a few weeks just to figure out who you are again. — Judd Apatow

I don't think I'm going to get so mature that I lose touch with the whatever wounded part of myself that feels the need to be funny. I'm already old enough that I realize that's not going to happen. — Judd Apatow

When I was very young, I started to make friends with much, much older people. So when I was twenty, my friends were fifty, and I never really went through forty because I would watch them die and I would feel younger. So you make friends with older people and you will always feel young no matter what. — Judd Apatow

There was definitely a period when I just felt out of sync with earth. — Judd Apatow

The thing that ruined your life makes you good at your work. And then you get rewarded at work, so you don't bother to fix it in your life. — Judd Apatow

I'm always talking to people. It's not that complicated. I just find somebody and say, "Do you have any ideas." If they do, we just start thinking things around. — Judd Apatow

I've always appreciated people like Graham Parker or Loudon Wainwright III, who spend their entire lives writing songs and working their asses off just to have complete artistic freedom. They're just sharing their lives with you through their music. That's the same kind of work that I'm trying to do, in my own weird way. — Judd Apatow

You have to write a lot of scripts to get any scripts that are worth making. — Judd Apatow

I love magazines and film critics, so I eat it up. I'm not one of those people who says 'I never read anything.' I generally read all of it. — Judd Apatow

At network television you could make a show like Freaks and Geeks, and even though 7 million people watch is every week, you were considered a terrible failure, and they got rid of you and staff. Now ... It's like a world where the replacements are the biggest fans in the world. It's, the Elvis Costellos of television are the winners. Creativity is king and it's very very exciting. — Judd Apatow

The moment you think of a joke is the best moment. — Judd Apatow

People like the comedy more when they care about the characters. — Judd Apatow

Jerry: If you always want less, in words as well as things, you'll do well as a writer. — Judd Apatow

I think a lot of studios today are run by women, and we are entering a time when a lot of women have evolved in Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade and wanted to become writers and comedians. — Judd Apatow

The first comedians I became fascinated with were the Marx brothers. I couldn't get enough of them. Later in life, I thought, "Well, maybe it's because they were so rebellious and they were just flipping the bird to society and all the rules we're supposed to follow." They were saying that none of it is fair. — Judd Apatow

I think there have been so many documentaries about pop stars, made by pop stars. It's a new phenomenon. People making these movies where they praise themselves and show their own weaknesses. it's all designed to make you love them even more. — Judd Apatow

I like to shoot scenes where I can see the beginning, middle and end of the entire scene. But, when you edit a movie together, you can just cut right into the middle. You don't need to see them walk into the room and put their jacket on the chair. There's always a lot of shoe leather that you can remove. — Judd Apatow