Edward Burns

“The stigma of the straight-to-DVD thing is over.”

“I'd been offered TV series over the years and never had any interest in doing television. I'm not a TV guy.”

“I suffer from Irish-Catholic guilt. Guilt is a good reality check. It keeps that 'do what makes you happy' thing in check.”

“I feel Irish-Americans are the forgotten minority group. Nobody else is making films about them.”

“You make a movie for 9k for the freedom it allows you.”

“Maybe I should have taken a few chances. That's not to say I want to go make 'Star Wars', but I need to shift my career into the studio world. That's where my head was at when I thought of the original plot.”

“Spielberg gave us three takes before saying anything to us. Since then, I do that, three takes, to let the actors find their rhythm.”

“I spent four months in Prague in these blue rooms reacting to nothing and you basically place your faith in the hands of the director and the special effects co-coordinator and you keep your fingers crossed and hope that the creatures look really scary.”

“But at a certain point, you have to take your influence and find your own voice if you want to become a relevant artist.”

“When I was 25 years old and had no money - and didn't know how to make movies and had no experience - I was able to get $25,000 together, and that film was 'The Brothers McMullen.'”

“Well, for one thing, you know my dad was a cop.”

“I was a kid who went to film school and fell into acting.”

“Woody Allen would go for seven years without a movie and then make one that makes no money.”

“It's so hard to raise money for independent films and the fact of the matter is that the bigger my star or whatever is, as a result of doing bigger pictures, the easier it is for me to get money for my own projects.”

“Well, honestly, the films I personally like to go see are smaller, more character-driven pieces, so that's why the movies I've made have been smaller, more character-driven movies.”