Barry Levinson is such a deceptive director, because he seems really lackadaisical. I'd never worked with him before, and I almost got the impression that he didn't really care that much because he was so laid-back. Sometimes we'd finish filming hours before the day was over, which is just unthinkable in any other film experience I've had. I couldn't believe that Barry had the passion for it.
Alessandro NivolaProducing is the antidote to acting. Producing is practical problem solving all day long. As opposed to endless self-obsession and navel gazing.
Alessandro NivolaThe research period of a film is the most exciting part of the process, and filming is sometimes a letdown because when you're dealing with biopic material, the real thing is always much more intricate than the story told in the film.
Alessandro NivolaI see myself as a character actor, and I've always been drawn to playing characters that are different from myself because acting is escapism for me. I've never been that comfortable playing people that are like me.
Alessandro NivolaGรฉza Rรถhrig is just incredible because he's not an actor, he's a Hungarian poet. He also happens to be a brilliant actor. He's totally unusual, the way he talks and thinks and operates isn't in the same language as you're used to from actors who've been in a lot of things before. It brings this completely bizarre and fresh, wonderful way of approaching everything that I love being around. Not where I'm, as a producer, having to interact with him as an artist, but as somebody who can stand back and admire what he's bringing to this thing that I've nurtured to create a stage for him.
Alessandro Nivola