screenwriters-from-canada

"I’ve always been a rebel, which means I question the hell out of things and yelling at me doesn’t do any good."

"As an artist, the thing that you want the most for your work is for it to be alive. Every new thing you do has to feel completely alive to you. And what works for me always is that there has to be some part of it that is brand new to me, more or less something that I haven’t done before ever. Something that scares me or something that makes me feel like it is going to teach me something. Something that I think is smarter than me. Those are the things that I really hope for in every single project that I do. So whatever it may be the projects that I want to do are always the things that are going to make me feel alive doing them, because I don’t want to beat a dead horse."

"Yeah it’s the same old story of labels being important in terms of fighting for legal rights, but being so inadequate in terms of expressing nuances of existing. And as soon as you choose a label it ends up inflating that part of your identity above other parts that are just as important."

"It’s so frustrating that so much of identity is about comparison. I just feel like myself. I don’t even feel non-binary. I just wake up, have a coffee and go to work."

"I’d love for us to reach a point where gender didn’t have to be the defining aspect of our identity, but we’re far from that."

"All the conversation is focused around pronouns and things like that, and I’m like, however you read me is fine. I know how I read myself."

"Exercise is key for me to just stay connected to the ol’ bode. It’s tough. Even though we know how to feel better. We know all these things. We just don’t do them. Everyone knows if they were on their phone less they’d be happier and more fulfilled. But it’s hard. Everything is designed to keep us distracted."

"I crave nature. When I’m in it, I love it. But I’m not a good camper. I’m good for the day."

"And being so confused, because I don’t feel like I want to go to the men’s changing room, and I don’t feel like I’m safe in the girl’s changing room."

"Getting a laugh out of someone is such a empowering feeling."

"I couldn't help but think he would have hated this kind of elegy. He would have perceived a lack of elegance in this glorification. And he was very elegant. Because his career speaks for itself. Through the articles that praise him and all the roles that survive him. His talent, we still have it. And no one can take that away from us. It's the privilege of being famous and an actor of his light to be able to count on art to fade us into eternity while other important bereavements for some remain unknown to all or become so quickly evanescent. It's a whole world that cried for Gaspard... it's a whole world that still mourns him."

"He's very precise and since he’s also an actor himself, the communication between us was very fluid. He makes us want to give everything."

"It is impossible, insane, and so painful to even think of writing these words. Your discreet laughter, your watchful eye. Your scar. Your talent. Your listening. Your whispers, your kindness. All the features of your person were in fact born of a sparkling sweetness. It is your whole being that has transformed my life, a being that I loved deeply, and that I will always love. I can’t say anything else, I’m exhausted, stunned by your departure."

"But I didn’t come here to speak about the career of Gaspard Ulliel — I could recount the list of brilliant exploits and feats, of starry passages among the stars of the Riviera, of the industry. But what effect could these things have on the gaping wound of his departure?"

"He's a very singular, unique and rare director. He loves actors, he loves acting, and also he has something that cannot really be explained. He has more than a style, he writes his cinema – not like writing it down – but he has a very special grammar in his movies. This is something that you cannot explain; he's a prodigy who lives for cinema. He has a passion for movies and this art form is so deep, so wide. The way he works with actors is very unique too. I used this image before talking about him, but it’s really what I feel; he’s like a sculptor or a painter. When we are on set he is with us, he talks to us while we are shooting, he's part of the family, he's part of everything he does – of course the director is part of every little thing in the movie, but he breathes like his films – so his film, and his films, breathe like him."

"Xavier and I are like soul mates. He wants to create a very intense and close-knit atmosphere on the set, and he has a very unique way of working. He will be talking to you while you’re shooting a scene or he will be playing music in the background to take you where he wants you to go with your performance."

"I chose to address this letter to you, Madame, because I did not know other than by telling you how much I admired and loved him. I didn't know how to pay him a real tribute. I think he would have liked to know that I wrote this letter while listening to a piece by Olafur Arnalds entitled "Tree"... "L'arbre". He would have listened to it. Even better. We would have listened to it together, without excluding all those who loved him. His family, it seemed natural to me to write to you this evening. To you, whom I immediately thought of that morning. Because a mother's love is stronger than anything. I believe it. Stronger than life. Stronger than art itself. And certainly stronger than death."

"Gaspard was often the one who listens and does not speak. We have often talked about his discretion or his gentleness, of the mystery that he did not intentionally cultivate. But little has been said about his eloquence. I've heard him talk so much about his love for his profession. About life, the beautiful things, in a neat language that celebrates the musicality, the scarcity of words while many were making a point to speak first, Gaspard was distilling from a thought, a more accomplished, more chiseled look. A bit like the one he poses at the end of Saint Laurent from his friend Bertrand Bonello, in this moment when he's eyeing the camera and lays his eyes precisely on the situation that is life and our souls as well. He seems to have understood something that has possibly escaped us all."

"I don't have mom issues or dad issues. I think I have found peace about many things in my past. I have forgiven and asked to be forgiven."

"My big, always and forever love, my creative soul mate @xavierdolan ♥️"

"Xavier is extremely precise — a year before the shoot, everything was ready, even the lighting. But then during the shoot itself he gave us some freedom."

"Nathalie Lévy: You directed Gaspard Ulliel in It's Only the End of the World, and you wrote an intense message after the news of his death... Xavier Dolan: It was really his light... the allure he had... He was someone who... I still can't talk about him... And I still can't accept... I dream of him at night... very often. Sometimes those dreams look cruel... or... hyper realistic. Some look so real... and when I wake up it's so painful. Nathalie Lévy: What was so singular about Gaspard? Xavier Dolan: I saw lots of interviews with Gaspard when he died. And he was someone who loved words... and loved to think. Sometimes he looked up at the sky, before speaking. And yet all of his words were relevant, measured, cultivated... He was a literate man, and curious. He spoke well. And he spoke when he had to speak."

"I had already met him several times, quickly, but I discovered a fragile, touching, endearing person, far from this somewhat false idea of ​​rebellious, condescending, young man inflated with assurance. For Xavier, filming is a vital impetus, palpable on set. Nothing matters more than what happens in front of the camera. He's someone who never gives up, doesn't back down from anything, just like his films."

"At first, it can feel a bit too interventionist, but it becomes very rewarding and passionating. He's with us every second, capturing our every move."

"I'm very much a hypochondriac, worried about dying, and not having enough time to work with the people I want to work with and being fulfilled as an actor."

"Yes, I came from nowhere. All my life, I heard 'Stop daydreaming,' Get over yourself,' 'You'll never get there,' 'Aim lower, 'You'll hurt yourself,' from teachers, family, and friends."

"I've been a fan from the first hour. Kate Winslet has inspired me to become an actor, a director, a costume designer ... she's helped me to grow as an artist and as a human being in a way that she will never know. When I saw her in Titanic, I was 8 years old. I saw the film and I was like, "Oooh, look at that." Big ideas, ambition, greater than life. It showed me that there were no limits to the things you could dream. I couldn't believe the production design. Do you know the accuracy and the rigor of the research James Cameron did for it? Down to the doorknobs. The accuracy of every detail is nothing short of autistic, and it's very impressive. But from the age of 8 to 16, Kate Winslet was the spokesperson of my teenage-hood without ever knowing it. She's been the face of my wildest artistic dreams. The way she walked, the way she talked ... she's defined the person that I am in so many aspects. And I know that it's extremely weird to be talking about this. Some artists do that to you. For me, it was her."

"I come from a popular environment. I don’t have a deep knowledge of auteur cinema. My wish as a director has always been to make films that I would like to see in theaters."

"I began as an actor and I will end as one. I’m not going to direct movies my whole life. It’s just too much. I want to write myself parts as generous as Anne Dorval's, or the kid in Mommy or Antoine in It's Only the End of the World! I’ve benched myself for so long. But I can’t seem to give myself these roles. People would call me ‘narcissistic’ again. That's their favourite word for me. But I want to do that in the future. Acting is a passion for me, in all its possible forms. It’s a passion, really a passion!"

"I knew that in coming here to seek out isolation, I was going to start thinking and writing about Gaspard, I had already written for Gaspard before, I had written to Gaspard, but I had not written about Gaspard. And other than for an article, an interview or a prize, believe me that I had no intention to do so."

"Tonight I wanted to pay a tribute to my friend, to our friend, Gaspard. I have chosen to do so in the form of a letter, which is as follows:"

"Xavier Dolan: I think of him all the time, actually... I think... It's hard to conceive it.. It takes a long time to accept this situation... to accept his departure... It's inconceivable... I often dream of him... I think of his family... his son... I think of his talent, his beauty... And I will talk about him tonight. Host: That's why you're here, actually. Beyond your César nomination... Xavier Dolan: Yes... honestly. This nomination is a recognition that I really appreciate, obviously, but it's not the first reason I'm here. I really wanted to say some things about Gaspard... Not because I have the right to do it, but because I feel the need to do it. I knew him professionally and intimately, as well. [Holding back tears] I hope tonight I'll be able to control myself better than now. But... I really feel the need to say personally how much I loved him and why."

"Madame, I am addressing this letter to you without even knowing you, without knowing you well. Outside, behind my bedroom window in the woods where I have taken refuge, the snow twirls in the air. It is transfigured by the light of the sun and the wind persists in beating it into loose snow. Big conifers rise in front of me, covered with a very heavy white deposit. Winter is calm, all of a sudden, after a brutal start."

"Sci-fi was always understood to be politically based. It’s a way of setting up a political message in a format that people can digest. If you tell somebody “That person’s a liar,” they can say, “No, I saw him last week and I trust him.” But if you make them a reptile and give them the same information, they’ll say, “Yeah, he’s a reptile. They all lie.” That’s the great thing about sci-fi."

"You take somebody on a golf course and their character defects and shortcomings come out. That’s how I picked my manager, my accountant, and my lawyer. You get someone who hits a bad shot and who goes crazy, and throws the club, you want him working for you? You want him to represent you? You get someone who hits a bad shot and who goes “how can I correct that? Do you have any ideas?” That’s the guy I hire. But also, I work all the time. I don’t take big vacations. Sometimes, a golf game is the only thing I get."

"Why work alone if you don’t have to? It’s all give and take. It’s all about listening to others and contributing. Even if you didn’t want to act, improv classes are great, because they teach you about conversation."

"There’s a certain confidence, too, I think time can give you. It’s like if you have faith in God, you have the confidence of knowing I’m just one little speck. I am just one little thing on this earth, and I don’t have to be everything."

"I’m a Canadian Catholic woman, so I’m hardwired to apologize."

"I think everyone is born with humor, but your life can beat it out of you, sadly, or you can be lucky enough to grow up in it."

"I think a lot of my work is about un-shaming things or de-shaming things."

"That was a life lesson to me. Because, yes it's important to take back those choices and be who we are un-apologetically, but we should always think of it in the modern context and what makes sense for our lives today, and to not be fundamentalist about anything. (as an answer to using a modern tattoo technique on herself, as opposed to a more traditional technique)"

"So if you don't have money to offer to people, you must strike their imagination with something as nice as you can think of."

"I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontation. Films that make you confront aspects of your own life that are difficult to face. Just because you're making a horror film doesn't mean you can't make an artful film."

"Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos."

"Censors tend to do what only psychotics do: they confuse reality with illusion."

"If you’ve ever sat in a room with twins, immediately you’re forced to deal with this confusion. You’re afraid to call them by name because you’re afraid you’re going to get it wrong. At first being a twin is a source of power, you can switch, you can fool people—but then it becomes a vulnerability because people confuse you when you don’t want them to. The famous story of the twins who were both spanked when either one of them did something wrong because the parents wanted to make sure they got the right twin. So that would immediately make each twin totally responsible for the other one’s actions and therefore would make you want to control the other twin’s actions. It gets quite twisted and the confusion of identities becomes quite intense."

"I think all my movies are commercial. That's my delusion. I thought Naked Lunch was wildly entertaining, so what do I know?"

"Technology isn’t really effective, it doesn’t really expose its true meaning, I feel, until it has been incorporated into the human body. And most of it does, in some way or another. Electronics. People wear glasses. They wear hearing aids that are really little computers. They wear pacemakers. They have their intestines modified. It’s really quite incredible what we’ve been able to do to the human body and really take it some place that evolution on its own could not take it. Technology has really taken over evolution. We’ve seized control of evolution ourselves without really quite being conscious of it. It’s no longer the environment that affects change in the human body, it’s our minds, it’s our concepts, our technology that are doing that."

"I'm always working on the same thing, the creation of an identity. It's mysterious: We think identity is genetically given, but I believe there is creative will involved with the decision of who we are going to be. All my movies are concerned with this."

"We are confused and bemused, and think that it’s a momentary delusion that will soon dissipate, leaving our lives to continue as they were."