Alexander Payne

The biggest fear I have is to die with regrets, and of course that will come true. ”

Hollywood films have become a cesspool of formula and it's up to us to try to change it... I feel like a preacher! But it's really true. I feel personally responsible for the future of American cinema. Me personally. ”

There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made. ”

They say you can do honest, sincere work for decades, but you're given in general a 10-year period when what you do touches the zeitgeist - when you're relevant. And I'm aware of that, and I don't want my time to go by. ”

I think cynicism lasts. Sentimentality ages, dates quickly. ”

I like actors who, when you see them on screen, you sense a person, not just an actor. ”

I'm so not interested in producing, other than doing my own work, producing my own films. I only do it as favors, for other people to get their films made. ”

The best cinema is about ethics. ”