Top 15 David O. Russell Quotes

Words matter. These are the best David O. Russell Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.

I was frustrated because I couldn't get going, as I was

I was frustrated because I couldn’t get going, as I was trying to figure out how to make films. I had various jobs, I taught a SAT class, I was a bartender, I had a day job at an office and was making short films.
David O. Russell
I would say that when I came into this chapter of my filmmaking career, starting with ‘The Fighter,’ there was this sense that you have to go from your instincts and you have to go from your gut, and you have to not hesitate and you have to not hedge.
David O. Russell
‘The Fighter’ was about a family struggling to overcome and fighting each other sometimes, and I went back and rewrote this script which I had written for my son initially because my son has mood disorder.
David O. Russell
I think what makes compelling fiction or cinema is when you’re basically taking the most intense moments of experience and you’re creating a song or a narrative out of it.
David O. Russell
I got put on jury duty, which is where I learned how to write.
David O. Russell
Some of Jimmy Stewart’s performance in ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ is some of the most disturbing performance he ever did, when he falls apart and when he breaks down.
David O. Russell
The whole trick is to make it feel like you’re spying on real people’s lives as they get through the day. When I’m writing, I have to trick myself as a writer. If I consciously say, ‘I’m writing,’ I feel all this pressure and somehow it doesn’t feel as real as when it doesn’t seem to count as much.
David O. Russell
There’s nothing better than an actor who is really, really hungry to show everything they’ve got.
David O. Russell
I got a nomination for director, which means the world to me; it’s just the most exciting thing for me and my family. You do the good hard work, and the rest of it is something you shouldn’t get too caught up in, but when it happens – boy! I respect it.
David O. Russell
That’s the most beautiful thing that I like about boxing: you can take a punch. The biggest thing about taking a punch is your ego reacts and there’s no better spiritual lesson than trying to not pay attention to your ego’s reaction. That’s what takes people out of the fight half the time.
David O. Russell
I think I land somewhere between Scorsese and Capra in what I’m drawn to emotionally; I’m drawn to very intense emotion. Capra freaked people out when they saw Jimmy Stewart lose it in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’
David O. Russell
What do we have in life, really? If we’re lucky we get to a certain age, and we have each other. We have the food we like. We have our crazy little rituals. And we have each other.
David O. Russell
I’m always looking for a way to surprise audiences. That’s, I feel, my job as a director. I felt that Amy Adams playing a tough woman in ‘The Fighter’ was a surprise. People saw her as a princess.
David O. Russell
The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That’s how I feel now, no matter what you’re doing.
David O. Russell
I feel profoundly blessed. I feel it’s a great privilege to make any motion picture.
David O. Russell