My characters aren't losers. They're rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else's rules.

The first comedy screenplay that I wrote was Animal House and I always thought I could and should be a director but no one was about to give me that opportunity on Animal House.

Analyze This is a good movie because Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal are really good. But without the material to put on the play, of course, they couldn't be good. For me, it starts with the writing.

There's something very edgy about Bill Murray out there improvising.

At a certain point, you have to convince the actors that you've done the right thing. The way I work, if I can't convince them, I've got to move on. I can't coerce them or browbeat them.

I always claim that the writer has done 90 percent of the director's work.

Acting is all about big hair and funny props... All the great actors knew it. Olivier knew it, Brando knew it.