David Mamet Movie Quotes & Sayings

Life in the movie business is like the beginning of a new love affair: it's full of surprises, and you're constantly getting fucked. — David Mamet

There's nobody who loves being around actors working more than David Mamet, especially actors bringing his tremendous dialogue to life. I've never seen a movie director who was happier to be directing a movie than Dave. — Clark Gregg

Always do things the least interesting way, the most blunt way, and you make a better movie. This is my experience. — David Mamet

The great movie can be as free of being a record of the progress of the protagonist as is a dream. — David Mamet

I did about 10-12 national commercials and then got one line parts in things like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and the show 'The Unit.' Got a little part in the movie 'Redbelt' by David Mamet and kept slowly grinding up and then started getting bigger parts in independents and getting noticed by Liz Meriwether. — Jake Johnson

IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CANT SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA. — David Mamet

Consider: for all the gobbledegook [film studio] executives spout about backstory, all that we, the audience, want to know is what happens next. That's the only thing that's going on ... Character is nothing other than action, and character-driven means The plot stinks, and you'd better hope the star is popular enough to open the movie in spite of it. — David Mamet

Almost all movie scripts contain material that cannot be filmed. — David Mamet