Stephen Frears

“There's one thing now that I experience every day when I'm making a film. I get up and think to myself, 'Am I going to be able to do it today?' I figure as long as I have that fear, I'll be alright.”

“When I go and teach, it sort of opens me up in some way. And when you're open, you're more receptive.”

“It's Marvel movies that get the big audiences.”

“I can't write; I don't think I'm even particularly good at telling a writer what's good or what's missing. So, actually having someone who can do that is a godsend.”

“I have to travel for my work, so the idea of getting on planes depresses me. They give me frequent-flyer points, and I think, 'I don't want them, because I'm sick of flying!'”

“I had a somewhat charmed life. I was brought up at the BBC. I did meet so many people cleverer than myself in those years. Often, I was slapped down and made to feel not good enough.”

“The only way you can learn about making films is by making them, by putting your stamp on the thing.”

“There isn't a route to success. Make a film. If people like it, you'll be okay. There is no route that I know of.”

“I never expected to become a director. It never occurred to me to come to America, to Hollywood. It's all been a wonderful accident. I'm still amazed every time I finish a film.”

“I've always found poverty a source of strength.”

“I'm from the Midlands. I lived in London for 50 years, but I'm not sure that I think of myself as a Londoner. I can see that we're all metropolitan, whether we are Londoners or not.”

“Film schools didn't exist when I was growing up. I learned by working with clever people. Good writers and cinematographers.”

“To be successful at anything, you need the right to fail, not just occasionally.”

“I like a lot of takes. I just go on until the actors get it right.”