There are plenty of bad actors and there are plenty of bad directors. There are actors who will always be bad and there are good actors who you cry for because they're being badly directed or the material isn't good enough.
Mike LeighFilms are made all over the world all the time and only a thin slice of that product is Hollywood.
Mike LeighThe way an actor is trained doesn't ultimately have much bearing on my work. I'm interested in the actor as artist.
Mike LeighI really think people are greatly stimulated and enriched by experiencing in film just as we can from novels and other art, experiencing things that resonate with what our lives are about. I think people really want to know... want to share, want to have the stimulus to think and care about the way they live their lives, the way they relate to other people, their aspirations, their hopes, et cetera.
Mike LeighResolve was never stronger than in the morning, after the night, when it was never weaker
Mike LeighI try and create for the audience something that relates to real-life experience. When you're meeting somebody for the first time, all you have to go on are your preconceptions and your stereotypes and whatever else, but gradually as you get to know them, they change. They become more three-dimensional, and you start to see them in layers.
Mike Leigh