I think the only thing that I really haven’t done much in, and I haven’t felt too attracted to, is romantic comedies.
I watch comic book movies. Give me ‘The Avengers,’ give me ‘Thor’, those are my area. But I don’t watch comedies.
I think the best comedies came out during the Depression. Personally.
The Russian male audience, they loved ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,’ and they like my comedies, but the Russian male audience is action, action, action.
I didn’t just dip my toe into the pool of romantic comedies.
I prefer comedies when they come from a dark kind of place and have a reality to it.
A lot of our favorite comedies in general are usually directed by writers, whether or not they wrote the original script themselves.
I am open to doing comedies, romantic stories, and commercial cinema, but it has to work for me so that I can give a year of my life in making it.
I don’t have anything saying, ‘I’m going to do this many new films, and this many comedies.’ But, it’s always exciting for me, whenever it is a new character and something I haven’t done before, and that’s part of what draws me to it.
I don’t tend to watch too many American comedies. I love British comedy.
Often, romantic comedies exist in a vacuum, and it’s kind of odd.
It is quite true – in fact, obvious on the surface – that the vast majority of dramatic shows and comedies, as well, advocate a liberal and humanistic and relativistic lifestyle and concept.
When I made ‘Hera Pheri,’ there was a huge poverty in Hindi cinema for comedies.
I’ve had ideas for romantic comedies, but it would be a much more darkly comic version than what usually sells tickets.
Maybe I don’t see enough television, but it seems there aren’t many shows that are romantic comedies that are an hour long where you’re not solving a crime or being a doctor.
I like comedies, I like thrillers, I like love stories. Everything is beautiful; it depends if the film is good, who cares? Everything is interesting.
I’ve never felt that I had to take a role in one of those mediocre but hugely budgeted romantic comedies because I want to wear beautiful dresses and have people think I’m pretty and that I get the guy.
So the only things I was being allowed to audition for were small roles in comedies. It broke my heart. No one would see me for anything else. I knew, in order to open up my career, I had to leave or that’s all I would ever be given.
Most people think that action movies are difficult and comedies are easy, but it’s actually the opposite. Comedy can be a lot of hard work too.
When I tried to play characters that strayed from who I am it ended in disaster. People didn’t expect me in comedies or musicals.
I think that sometimes, romantic comedies have to be really broad, and that the plot of people falling in and out of love or whatever is not enough. ‘Enough Said’ had that stuff, but I wanted it to be fun and funny while also grounded in reality.
My first few films were institutional comedies, and you’re on pretty safe ground when you’re dealing with an institution that vast numbers of people have experienced: college, summer camp, the military, the country club.
A lot of comedies in the 1980s and 1990s had all these colors and were so brightly lit. But John Landis had this dark style, like a Scorsese film.
I did 10 years of comedies and 10 years of Westerns. I really like to stay away from car chases. I prefer the more intimate film. You have a much more direct association with the emotions.
I love romantic comedies… but they have to be done right, but when they are, they’re great.
I loved Old School. I thought Old School was very different than a lot of the comedies that had come out. And that character I liked. I tried to ground him very much in reality and play him very much finding things important to him that are somewhat ridiculous.
I want to do more films – not just comedies, because I really want to show my range.
Even in comedies, you’ve got to feel safe for things to just happen in a way that is natural and free, and recognizable as human.
Yes, I was hired by Universal because they needed a comedy director. They had seen Scandal and liked it. I saw an opportunity even in those comedies to begin my project of American films.
I want to get away from my comic image. Not that I won’t do any more comic roles, but I won’t opt for the usual ‘Govinda’ type of comedies.
I watch comedies most of the time. That’s what I gravitate toward. But I think the kinds of roles people see me in are sort of the opposite of that. I’m not really sure why.
I would say 80% of the scripts I get are dramas and not comedies or romantic comedies, which is funny because that’s what I do every week.
Broadway has changed tremendously from the early days when the shows were referred to as musical comedies. Musical Theater is now a more expanded art form. Back then, singer/actors were not the norm. From the 60’s to now, it is necessary to do it all to be a consummate Broadway performer.
I have an affinity for comedy because I like to watch them. It’s an honor to make comedies because I love being able to pop something into the DVD player and laugh. I love doing it.
Romantic comedies seem to take over where the fairytales of childhood left off, feeding our dreams of a soulmate; though, sadly, the Hollywood endings prove quite elusive in the real world.
I did not watch many of my father’s films because he used to do action movies. So when anyone punched my dad I used to get scared. I have loved him in comedies. I loved him in ‘Hera Pheri.’
It is true that I got recognition. But however good the comedies are, nobody will accept a good comedy director as a good director. That is the sad part of it. Nobody knows who directed the ‘Laurel and Hardy’ movies. They know only Laurel and Hardy. Directors will never get a good name if they direct a comedy film.
‘The Best Man’ was my first feature film, and I didn’t want to be known as a director who only does romantic comedies.
I love being a part of a romantic comedy. I’ve done a lot of comedies but haven’t always had a ton of romance in them.
I told my agents that I love Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand and all of these women that are good at doing comedies as well as dramas.
Most of the offers I get from Hollywood are for teen comedies. My manager thinks I’m crazy for turning down all that money, but I’m very picky.
If you spend any time in Washington you’ll find nerds. What happens is most of them sublimate their fixations with comics, or baseball cards, or 1960s British comedies to policy minutiae and political arcana. But, like Christians in ancient Rome, you can still spot them if you know the signals.
FX does a great thing with its comedies where they give them a slow push out there.
The really funny comedies to me are always the ones that are played the straightest or given the most emotional content. And when people start making faces and setting things up and commenting and winking at you, I don’t find that to be very funny.
I believe how you measure a good movie is how many times you can see it. With comedies, I like to be a producer, because comedies can get corny and go off track real fast. I’m always the ‘less is more’ guy when it comes to a scene. So I’ma be the one who will keep it grounded.
The reality of our lives is never like what you see in those romantic comedies or dramas. Things don’t always end good. Things don’t usually end good.
You know what I want? The answer is, I truly don’t know what I want. I don’t want to do a television series. I want to do dramas as well as comedies, but I have no idea what kind or in what order. Just give me the chance at them.
I really just love making comedies; I love doing characters.
I’d love to do a really juicy drama that’s just really real. On the comedy side, I’d love to do something like ’21 Jump Street.’ I cannot stop watching that movie. Really funny, really extreme comedies are definitely my favorite.
