A biography for Sam Taylor-Johnsonhasn’t been written yet.
“I understand what it is to go through emotional trauma and retreat and go into the world of your imagination. I understand how art and music can be a place of safety in a world of reinvention.”
“My childhood had its challenges, like everyone's. It imbued me with certain things and took away others. It made me very determined.”
“I feel lucky to be getting older. The fact that I made it to 30 and then 40 was big enough. So I can't get too down on getting older; otherwise, it kind of undoes everything I've fought for.”
“I love karaoke. I love maudlin country ballads. In another life, I'd be Loretta Lynn.”
“I think that, to be an artist, you have to have a big enough ego to believe that people out in the world want to see what you think is a good idea. And if you don't have that sense of ego, then the minute that idea goes into the world, self-doubt kicks in.”
“I'm twitchy. I think I've got ADD. I find it hard to sit down. I need to be constantly challenged; otherwise, I get very... well, I guess 'bored' is the word.”
“You have to be brave when you've got a kid.”
“My stepfather was quite into opera, but he'd play it when he was in a bad mood, so you'd hear this boom through the floor, Wagner, and you'd feel nervous.”
“If you love someone, you love someone. It doesn't matter; age, colour, c'mon!”
“I don't understand why there aren't more powerful female directors. I don't have the answers, but I hope that things may start to shift and that studios will employ more women to handle strong and interesting material.”
“I have a massive phobia for schedules and calendars. I need people to tell me where I need to be. I can't bear to see it in black and white. I think it's a fear of being pinned down.”
“I'm interested in taking raw human emotions and then isolating them without any narrative structure. In order to achieve this, I try to break out of the narrative conventions that you'd see in a typical feature film.”
“I think the whole of people's psychology and where they are in life interests me, and the decisions you make that take you on particular journeys to different places.”
“I want to protect my vision, and that's the hardest thing.”
“Britain can sometimes feel like a very small village, and you're this, I dunno, scarlet woman they're all gossiping about.”
“I'm good at keeping secrets.”
“Seriously, I wanted to be an artist because I saw that it meant endless possibilities. I came from a badly managed family background, so art was a way of reinventing myself.”
“I only photograph myself at poignant moments in my life as a check of where I am and how large my thighs are.”
“People in love don't see gender, colour or religion. Or age. It's about the other person, the one that you love and who loves you. You don't think of them in terms of a label. You just go with your heart.”
“To be feminist doesn't mean you can't be submissive.”