Tom McCarthy

“Taking chances is my job; some will connect and some won't, and certain films find their audiences in different ways. I think 'Spotlight' probably is a better movie because of 'The Cobbler.' You learn with every movie you make: you learn from your mistakes, and you learn from your achievements, and I really do have that approach to filmmaking.”

“There's a bit more of a safe distance when you're making a narrative movie, a bit more perspective. Audiences can separate themselves from the harsh reality of the facts a little bit more and think: 'Okay, how do I consider this?'”

“A lot of times, I'll resist the temptation to visually define a movie until, one, I really understand just what the movie's about, and two, until I start talking to my cinematographer.”

“With docs, there's often a very direct communication between the filmmaker and the audience. With narrative movies, we leave it a little bit more open.”

“Ultimately, as an actor, it comes down to committing to the text in the script.”

“People need foundation myths, some imprint of year zero, a bolt that secures the scaffolding that in turn holds fast the entire architecture of reality, of time: memory-chambers and oblivion-cellars, walls between eras, hallways that sweep us on towards the end-days and the coming whatever-it-is. We see things shroudedly, as through a veil, an over-pixellated screen. When the shapeless plasma takes on form and resolution, like a fish approaching us through murky waters or an image looming into view from noxious liquid in a darkroom, when it begins to coalesce into a figure that's discernible, if ciphered, we can say: This is it, stirring, looming even if it isn't really, if it's all just ink-blots.”

“It was such a joy to be an actor on 'The Wire.'”

“I think when you're dealing with faith, you want to be as responsible and sensitive to the material as you can.”

“Some people shy around 'The Cobbler.' 'The Cobbler' will always be a very special film to me. I've had a lot of wonderful response from 'The Cobbler.'”

“I loved acting, and then acting led to writing, and writing led to directing, and directing lead to five movies, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world.”

“I'm a pretty well-read person. I read my paper every morning.”

“It’s about the possibility, or otherwise, of meaning in the world. And the possibility, or otherwise, of writing. And the possibility, or otherwise, of the resolution of everything into some coherent, cogent vision.”

“The passion and knowledge of journalism as storytelling is incredibly infectious.”

“Whenever you're telling a story about true-life events and about real people, there's a tremendous responsibility-slash-burden to get it right.”

“It’s very fluid, this space between philosophy and literature, and that’s something that resonates for me.”

“Ben Karlin is a friend of mine and was a writer on 'The Daily Show.' He's just put out a book and asked a bunch of writers from various disciplines to contribute. It was called 'Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me,' and of course I agreed, and then I actually had to sit down and write it. God, writing fiction is terrifying.”

“Everything, as Peyman said, may be a fiction – but the Future is the biggest shaggy-dog story of all.”

“I just try to keep going and work on projects that are exciting to me, with people I respect and enjoy and want to work with. That takes me in different directions sometimes, but it's all been a pretty good ride.”

“If people were to tell other people everything about themselves, we’d live in a dull world.”