Michael Gracey

“Usually on a film set it's making sure that everyone is there for their scene, and the moment their scene is over they disappear.”

“The power of music is undeniable.”

“I was introduced to Zendaya by one of the executives at Fox, and like every single person who's met her, you completely fall in love with her talent and her maturity.”

“Whether a film is breaking into song and dance or if it's something like 'Whiplash,' I find it incredibly rewarding, and I'm drawn to those stories with a musical component.”

“Classically, it's the child who looks up at their parents who says, 'This is how the future is going to be,' and it's the parents who don't understand because they're set in their ways. For me, it was the exact opposite.”

“To me I grew up watching 'All That Jazz' and 'Cabaret,' and when I was younger 'Mary Poppins',' The Sound Of Music,' and 'Singin' In The Rain.'”

“I'm a big believer in bringing in other creative minds; I do it in my commercial work.”

“If you look at the things I'm drawn to, it's always stuff that's got a lot of imagination and heart.”

“The Greatest Showman' would be an amazing Broadway hit.”

“So many Hollywood adaptations of really popular manga series just don't get it right, and for me what was really important was that if I was gonna do 'Naruto,' I wanted to actually work with Kishimoto and get a script to a stage where he would look at it and be excited about realizing it.”

“It's really strange, this thing where people are like, 'I'm not into musicals' but so many people who have said that to me, I've taken to shows and watched their faces radiate.”

“The biggest thing is to overcommunicate your vision. It's so important to have real clarity as to what is inside your head, and sometimes that's really terrifying for people.”

“To get 'The Greatest Showman' greenlit, we had to get everyone into New York City to hear a read through, where we'd read through the script and sing it.”

“There's something really special when you take an audience and instead of just being passive and watching, you invite them to participate.”

“Everyone knows and loves Elton John's music, but the true story of his life is so incredible that it can only be described as a fantasy.”

“I kind of feel like with a musical, there's so few original musicals that people just don't know what to expect.”

“People forget that even the biggest hit shows, like 'Hamilton,' started off-Broadway.”

“Like 'Lost in Translation,' I worked on an advertisement where a Hollywood star was doing a commercial just for Japan. The star was Hugh Jackman. Since I'm Australian, they just assumed I knew him, and I didn't correct them.”

“I'd love if between 'La La Land' and 'The Greatest Showman' we generate a new wave of movie musicals because, as an art form, musical narrative is so engaging and has produced some of the most iconic moments in cinema history.”

“I'm as thrilled watching Mark Rylance do Shakespeare as I am watching 'The Book of Mormon.'”