Quotes about "Resilience & Adversity"

Going back to the films I made in the nineties, they might not have been the most thought-provoking movies, but there was always this conscious thing of knowing that it was fourteen-year-old surfers who were really into it, and so I've wanted to be responsible with that. ”

I feel like surf films are something I go back to for some balance - to reset myself as a filmmaker. They're something I'll always gravitate towards. ”

The movies I make - the goal isn't a mass audience. They're not expensive films. So the attempt is to reach a much more limited audience - one would say an audience that enjoys films that challenge them emotionally and intellectually. ”

I love to play with the notion of who the protagonist is - who is the audience supposed to root for? I did it in 'Sicario' and feel it was the strength of the script - guiding the audience's allegiance toward the villain because they think he's the hero, until it's revealed that he's the villain. ”

I had a teacher in college who drastically changed the course of my life by telling me that he believed in me as an actor. I never received that support before, and it inspired to me to such a degree that I never looked back. He taught me that it's okay to be crappy; it's okay to fight; it's okay to go to any length. ”

No graduation speaker will ever tell you that the future is anything but uncertain. It never is. But graduations need not only be obsessed with looking ahead; a graduation can be a day on which we turn back and trace our steps to see how we ended up where we are. ”

I hone my craft. I keep going. I light a little fire under myself. I look around for roles that will challenge me. And I'm grateful for all the ones I get. ”

I had trouble in high school, and it has really pushed me to do something big and make a difference. ”

I was in San Francisco for 'Trauma' and then got back to town and got situated and started looking at things and passing on things. I think I was around for a month and a half, and there were other projects that were up, but it's all a waiting game. And then, 'The Vampire Diaries' came up, and I was really interested and read for it. ”

When I was on 'Trauma,' the first order was six, which turned to 12, and then there were rumors of getting cancelled. I'm used to that. ”