Robert B. Weide

“The catch in the industry is that if you want to get a picture made for little money, you have to get a big star. But the two are usually mutually exclusive.”

“I like to make films about my heroes.”

“In the States anything dealing with religion, people go nuts, because they are nuts.”

“Writing, to me, conjures up a physical act, like running or eating.”

“The documentaries are one thing - I was highlighting someone else's work, someone else's genius. Once I had to find my own voice, I'm glad I was a little bit older and had some confidence and had all these great inspirations to draw from.”

“I don't know that Michael J Fox had done anything prior to that 'Curb' episode where he got to comically play up the whole subject of his Parkinson's. There must have been something very liberating in doing that.”

“I have some kind of knack for getting to know or becoming very close with people I've long admired.”

“In any movie, there are a number of scenes that get cut in an effort to keep the film from running too long. Some are of little consequence, but others are important scenes that are very painful to lose.”

“Ask any lawyer - if a prosecutor thinks he can win a case, he'll prosecute it.”

“Kurt Vonnegut and I - it's not an exaggeration to say we were best friends. And I grew up just idolizing him.”

“How do you tell a story that you're a part of without it being a big ego trip?”

“I hate to sound like someone twice my age talking about these comics today and all that, but it's as though their intent or goal on stage seems to be to see how uncomfortable they can make the audience, or how viciously they can savage their subjects.”

“In the States I got asked to do every TV show.”

“A lot of British comedy feels foreign rather than feeling universal.”

“People in the States live for finding something they can lose their minds over. They have nothing else going on. They watch a show and there's a joke and everybody's up in arms.”

“I've said it before, and I'll say it again - one can believe in Woody Allen's innocence without presuming Dylan Farrow to be a liar.”

“If you listen to Howard Stern, go back and listen to Lenny Bruce, so you can hear what real talent is.”

“One weekend, I was driving and in the car next to me on the freeway was a guy who looked like a very conservative Nick Frost, with a short haircut, these horn-rimmed glasses, and he was wearing a jacket and tie. I thought, Oh, there's Nick if he were an accountant in the '50s or '60s.”

“My paid gigs allow me to pay for my documentaries, like a drug habit, I suppose. If I'm lucky enough to be working steady, however, it leaves little time for the documentary hobby.”

“I consider myself allergic to gossip and tabloids, and go out of my way to avoid them.”