Michael Pitt Quotes (16 Quotes)

There are two kinds of directors: There's the kind where two plus two equals four, and you have to help them figure it out. And then there's the kind that throws you in a room, locks the door, sets the house on fire and films it.

You know, people want someone to tell them the answer, ... They want a friend, or a teacher, or a parent - but above all I guess they just want to know. And the truth is you can't tell them, and that's a hard thing to deal with. And it's easy to get wrapped up in the idea that this person knows - that he will tell me what I need to know, what I need to live - because he means a lot to me.

I think Van Sant is the most important American director we have. He takes the most risks. He's just pure to me.

I wish there were . . . tigers and lions and elephants. Hopefully, maybe in the future, they'll have those.

When actors give their input, it can be very ego-driven, and directors are scared of that.

It was a dream, ... There's a sense that even when the movie is scripted, a lot of the best things that happen are accidents. It's an environment set up where the accidents can flow.

I feel that film, as opposed to theatre, is about capturing that one, real moment.

People don't want to be plagued by not knowing-they want answers.

Well, I played a junkie. People have said to me 'My God, your walk in the movie is just like Kurt's.' But I was just trying to walk like a junkie.

I see why people think it is, and sometimes I do. And sometimes I don't think it's selfish. I'm probably an atheist, though I was raised a Catholic - and that whole religion is based on the first suicide, in many ways.

All these directors who do different locations forget that one room can be shot from a million different angles and a million different ways. When I direct a movie, I'm going to use that.

Acting is really scary, but it's also challenging, fun, hard work. There's always an element of improvisation with every actor, even when something is really scripted.

I think Gus hopes that you look at a human being, not Kurt Cobain, ... You don't get hung up on the rock n' roll fantasy, whatever fantasy the audience wants to have about Kurt Cobain as a rock star or rock icon. After watching the film, I thought, strangely, that this had more respect for him.

I think in some ways you learn more from the things you don't like than the things you do.

Last Days is, loosely, about Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the rock group Nirvana. I had a house in the middle of the woods, ... I stayed alone the whole time, and I tried always to be battling with the things I thought the character was battling with - seclusion, drug addiction, severe chronic depression and suicidal tendencies.

It sounds cliche, but success is your friends, your family, what you do, and if you're happy when you wake up.