Sam Levinson

I can only get to a certain point as I write and then I have individual conversations with everyone that I cast. I always do a rewrite based on the conversations.

I remember John Waters's 'Pink Flamingos,' that was the film where I realized you could do anything you want - there were no boundaries.

I don't design stories to fit some political ideology. I design stories about characters who I love and care about, while trying to make sense of an increasingly mad and toxic and insane world.

Sometimes you can just have a dialogue with an actor beforehand and shape the performance then, but other actors need more guidance on the set.

When we go to the cinema, we bring all of our preconceptions of actors with us.

As a child I'm sure I was no different from any other human being struggling to navigate the difficulties and complexities of their childhood and adolescent years. I feel it's a time when all of us need an escape, a place where we can leave the world behind and just disappear. For me, it was film.

If you keep your heart open you can meet people who change your life.

If you're working in close-ups, then an actor is only able to act with his head. I like an actor to act with their entire body.

The way that I deal with actors as a director is I just talk to them forever before we even arrive on set.

I always wanted to write and direct films for as long as I can remember.

I don't want to make a comfortable film. I'm not interested in that. I'm not interested in answering people's questions; I'm interested in posing questions. I'm interested in sparking a conversation between two people about what something means. That's enough for me, as a writer and as a director.

I looked at theater, in the sense that theater is unmanipulated. If I want to pay more attention to one character on stage than another, I can. I think there's not enough theater in film and not enough film in theater, in a way.

I've always wanted to write, I've always wanted to direct. The conscious decision was always to not be an actor.

I was never interested in acting on film or in television, but I was always more inclined to writing and directing, and the exploration of character.

I don't even like getting my picture taken because I feel terrible about the way I look. I'm so self-conscious about things.

So I think it's important to just keep in mind that the work doesn't end when the scene ends. You want to check on someone to make sure everyone's good, and also create an environment where everyone is rooting for one another.

I studied method acting for four years and I'm a big believer in the idea that it's not about the actual experience itself. You don't have to go through exactly what this character has gone through.

Anything can be taken out of context and anything you say or do is not necessarily an accurate reflection of who you are in your totality. There are small moments of your life that when taken into account with the rest of your life start to paint a picture.

I don't really outline. I just kind of know where I'm going in my head, so I'll write and discover it for myself. Or I'll just write an entire episode and throw it out because I land on an idea and realize that's where I should jump off from.

And the nature of split screen is a disconnect: It's a line between two characters, two images, two realities.