A biography for Max von Sydowhasn’t been written yet.
“I would love to do parts I have never done before, but unfortunately, if you have had success in a particular type of character, the casting agents think, 'Oh! We'll have something exactly like that.' It's very boring.”
“Unfortunately, not all stories end positively.”
“New York is a fascinating city. I think it's a very inspiring city, but it's overpowering when you get older. It tires me now. But it's wonderful for young people - very inspiring and full of surprises and full of ideas.”
“What is important, I think, is to reach as many people as you can and do it as well as you can. Reach them and inspire them or amuse them, or maybe in some odd moments help them to discover something they hadn't thought of before.”
“When I know what the character I'm supposed to play wants in general terms, and when I know what did the other characters want to do, that's when all these wills collide and the emotions show up.”
“Movies give me an opportunity to go places. I'm not only a Swede but an American, not just a man of my time, but I've been living 2,000 years ago-and not just in a new country, America, but in the Holy Land, too.”
“I think the film you hear about the most is 'The Exorcist.' When people come up to me and say, 'Oh, you scared me!' I was the good guy in that film!”
“When I finished the role of Christ, I felt as though I'd been let out on parole. A man who has served 18 months isn't eager to go back to prison.”
“Bergman has a very special eye for people. His background taught him to listen and to feel.”
“Filming is repetition and many takes.”
“There are those who want to believe but can't, and there are those who believe as children and it's no problem for them at all.”
“We should look back now and then. Our politicians should look back every now and then.”
“Film work can be very interesting, but it also can be awfully boring because who creates the film? The actors? No. It is the director. It's his piece of work.”
“During my military service, I performed a sketch in which I played a flea called Max. So when critics kept misspelling my name, I decided to change it and thought, 'Ah! Max!'”
“I actually know the moment I became known. It was at the Cannes Film Festival, when they showed 'The Virgin Spring.' I walked into that theater as one person, and I walked out as another.”
“In Hollywood they usually cast me as villains or priests.”
“I find it very hard to take myself seriously.”
“I owe Mr. Bergman so much.”
“There are casting directors with lots of imagination, but also some with not as much imagination.”
“Producers are not gamblers. They want a good return on their investment.”