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Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

James Gray Quotes

I began to see cinema as the perfect combination of so many wonderful art forms – painting, photography, music, dance, theater.

– James Gray

It’s difficult because Manhattan is so fantastic, and it’s 9 miles away, and all these cool rich people live there and have great lives, and you live in a semi-attached row house in Queens.

– James Gray

The sad truth for American actors is that they really have no control whatsoever over the material that they get, or can do, particularly actresses. And if you’re over 40 and you’re an actress, forget it.

– James Gray

My wife and I had been to the genetic counselor; my wife is not Jewish – she’s the shiksha goddess type – and was negative for everything. But I was positive. I carried the gene for three genetic disorders, which, if she had been positive for, we would have passed down to the child.

– James Gray

There are very few movies in English about romantic obsession told with a seriousness of purpose.

– James Gray

At least in America, the narrative is I’m a Cannes favorite. But, in fact, I’ve had my best experience in Venice, both with the audience and the jury.

– James Gray

At a certain point, you have to kind of realize that greatness is a messy thing.

– James Gray

I feel like it’s a real shame that my generation doesn’t make an appearance at the opera.

– James Gray

The opera in Los Angeles is excellent.

– James Gray

Most people don’t watch a movie four or five times; they watch it once.

– James Gray

There’s virtually nothing made up in ‘The Immigrant.’ So much of the film came from somewhere in my family’s past. All the details are from my own family.

– James Gray

I am an Ashkenazi Jew, and there are a whole host of genetic disorders that only Ashkenazi Jews have. I don’t know if you know this, but 16 or 17 disorders that we carry the gene for.

– James Gray

The key to humor is often self-loathing or sarcasm. In a sense, that’s how self-loathing is made palatable.

– James Gray

The conventional wisdom is that people come to the United States, and immigration is so great, and they say, ‘America, what a great country.’ And a lot of that is true.

– James Gray

I know this sounds phony, but I don’t start out on a project going, ‘I’m going to make an emotional work,’ you know what I mean? You try to tell the story directly and honestly and with passion.

– James Gray

As ugly an admission as this is, I met my wife at a party, and if I had been to the same party and she were dressed in different clothes, I might never have talked to her. She might have projected something that I found distasteful, even if she otherwise looked exactly the same – a beautiful woman to me.

– James Gray

I went to see ‘Star Trek Into Darkness,’ and J.J. Abrams, who’s a friend of mine, made this film, and I went to see it at the premiere. Believe it or not, I was really blown away by the comic timing of it.

– James Gray

When I was younger, I felt it essential to see every movie ever made. Now I feel as though I’ve got to read every book, see every art show, watch every play and opera and concert and so on. It does not end, and of course there is truth in the old cliche that the more one knows, the more one realizes one knows nothing at all.

– James Gray

The idea that the family is this locus of support but can also hold you back and keep you down makes for good drama.

– James Gray

When I was quite young, I dreamed of being a painter.

– James Gray

I remember as a little kid, I would always feel comfortable if the light in the crack of my parents’ door was on at night. When it went off, that meant they were asleep. Then that terror and the fear of being by myself started to creep in.

– James Gray

At Ellis Island, I mean, you didn’t go there if you arrived in first class. It was only the poorest, the people in the worst shape.

– James Gray

The ending shot of ‘Queen Christina’ with Greta Garbo is amazing. She’s at the head of the ship, and she’s been through so much, and the camera gets so close to her face. That really sticks out for me.

– James Gray

I’ve been a Yankees fan for a long time. When I was a kid in the mid-’70s, the Yankees were really great. They had Reggie Jackson in ’77. I was 8 years old at the time. He hit three home runs to win the World Series in game six against the Dodgers, and I was just hooked.

– James Gray

I start with a mood or an idea that comes from a personal place emotionally, and the narrative concepts come much later.

– James Gray

I suppose I’m always trying to break down the wall between my characters and myself. I’m trying to make the film as expressive and personal as I can, even if I can’t explain, for example, how important it is for me to be Jewish.

– James Gray

It’s very difficult to put your finger on why a certain actor or actress will capture your attention, and you’ll think they’re right for a role. There’s an essence to a person.

– James Gray

The word ‘operatic’ is often misused to mean over the top, where someone is over-emoting. And that does a terrible disservice because ‘operatic’ to me means a commitment and a belief to the emotion of the moment that is sincere.

– James Gray

It’s the demand of all demands to do a car chase that’s unique because there are so many… really since the beginning of film, even in the silent era, ‘The Keystone Cops.’

– James Gray

I’m just not willing to give up on myself. If I’m going to fail, then I want to fail to the limits of my talent.

– James Gray

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