Theodore Melfi

“I have to shoot and work out and play and discover all the time.”

“A Sunday matinee is a good time for families to go to a movie.”

“If you don't infuse humor into a subject matter, no matter how dark, the audience can't accept the message of a film. It closes them down. Humor can open them up.”

“The concept of 'family' has changed so much. It's not just 'mom and dad' anymore. It's 'mom and mom' and 'dad and dad,' and it's kind of beautiful.”

“You know what the truth is? You don't find Bill Murray. Bill Murray finds you.”

“By the time I got to 'St Vincent,' I had shot so many scenarios I was ready for anything - I've shot kangaroos, I've shot dogs, cats, crowds, fight scenes, stunts, comedy, drama, handheld, dolly, helicopter, crane - I just felt that there was nothing I was unprepared for.”

“I think math is exciting, you know.”

“Life is laughter.”

“I can't stand toe-to-toe with Bill Murray. It's very hard, because just looking at Bill - he's 6'3", and he just stares at you, and you have no idea what's going on inside that mind of his.”

“I have a very strict philosophy that if you're not working out, you're getting fat.”

“The fact is this: NASA was desegregated by a white male. NASA was not desegregated by a black male. NASA was not desegregated by white women.”

“We don't have parades for mathematicians, we have parades for astronauts. You don't think about all the thousands of people who worked on that capsule and crunched the numbers and were integral in getting that into space.”

“NASA didn't give a crap what gender you were or what race you were. If you could do the math, you were valuable.”

“I think if characters change too much, it's unrealistic; their whole fabric of who they are as a person doesn't just disappear.”

“Family is just the people you care about. We can bond with people that we have nothing in common with, even if it's just for a moment.”

“If you don't have comedy in a movie, you don't have a movie.”

“As a director, you're open to any kind of criticism.”

“You have a responsibility to make inclusion a daily thought, so we can get rid of the word 'inclusion.'”

“I try not to write for actors because A, they're not the character, and B, it's really depressing when you don't get them.”

“I was a good student. I started college at 16 years old and did okay.”