When you've got good actors, they're going to come up with good stuff, but you're never quite sure how the dynamics are going to work between them.
Martin McDonaghI pick and choose what I want to do at any given time, and what not to do, importantly. My agents, I won't hear about any offers or options.
Martin McDonaghIt's the periods and the commas that you have to forget about. The words never change, but the intonations change.
Martin McDonaghIt's like two years straight out of your life doing a film. It's very enjoyable, especially working with the guys, but I kind of like the idea of traveling and growing, and developing as a writer and as a filmmaker.
Martin McDonaghTheatre was an art form that I didn't really respect, and because I wanted to shake it up and do different things on stage, I was able to combine all the things I'd learnt through writing on my own.
Martin McDonaghMy plays are always pushing towards cinema anyway. They're down and dirty, real and more fun.
Martin McDonaghDublin people think they are the center of the world and the center of Ireland. And they don't realize that people have to leave Ireland to get work, and they look down on people who do.
Martin McDonaghI never really tell anyone what I'm writing beforehand because I usually don't know what it will be.
Martin McDonaghThe fact that ticket prices are way too expensive, and there's only one bunch of people going to see Broadway shows, is something I've never liked.
Martin McDonaghI love actors. Part of that is my theater background and being a writer who cares about performance. Actors have usually chosen their profession because they have a dream of doing it and they want to express something about the world. That's the same thing that I have with writing. Most of the good actors get into it for those reason, rather than for reasons of fame or fortune, or anything like that, and that's where I'm coming from, as a storyteller.
Martin McDonaghIt's the way that I think about the world, and the way that I like to tell stories - I don't think you should get too heavy. There's enough out there, in the world, with violence. I think that comedy lightens the heaviness [of the world].
Martin McDonaghI never feel like a smug or a smart-alec film director, and there are plenty of those around.
Martin McDonaghThough it may not seem like it, I never try to write about a place, per se; it's always, first and last, about story. Story is everything. Story and a bit of attitude.
Martin McDonaghI'd just like to thank everybody who was involved in the film, especially Brendan Gleeson and Ruaidhrí Conroy. And Ruaidhrí, I'm sorry that you couldn't be here tonight but I hope next time, if they let you into the country.
Martin McDonaghI don't even subscribe to writer's block being a truthful thing. I've had writer's laziness quite often. But I think it's all about sitting down and facing down the blank page and doing it, and I've always been ok at that.
Martin McDonaghWhen I'm happiest writing is just not knowing where it goes and just let the characters bring you there.
Martin McDonaghI like traveling and I like not being part of the film world. Especially when you're in the middle of a junket, you're thinking, "I'm not doing this again for four years!"That's about taking time and finding the right story and being in a happy place in life where you can joyfully tell a story. I'm not really into the fame side of things, so I'm very happy with making a film every four years or so.
Martin McDonaghI think as a writer you never have to flee from fame because you're not that visible in the first place, but, after the Broadway success of 'Beauty Queen,' people were coming up to me all the time, and I wasn't really prepared for that level of attention.
Martin McDonaghI won't work on anyone's else's script. I won't write for anyone else. I write my own stuff and make that when the time is right.
Martin McDonaghI don't feel I have to defend myself for being English or for being Irish, because, in a way, I don't feel either. And, in another way, of course, I'm both.
Martin McDonaghI think if you're writing a play, it should be its own end game; you'll never get to do a good one unless you know it's not a blueprint for a film; you're not going to get the action right and the story right.
Martin McDonaghI suppose I walk that line between comedy and cruelty because I think one illuminates the other. We're all cruel, aren't we? We are all extreme in one way or another at times and that's what drama, since the Greeks, has dealt with. I hope the overall view isn't just that though, or I've failed in my writing. There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That's where the real art lies.
Martin McDonagh