136 Quotes by Elia Kazan

I gave my life to the Group Theatre, because in it I’m building something for myself. What I build, I am.

Take it from a director: if you get an actor that Sandy Meisner has trained, you’ve been blessed.

I was able to capture on film things the actors didn’t even know they were doing.

With kids you can take a chance but casting a guy at 45 is different. You don’t discover somebody that age. If an actor hasn’t made it by that time he probably has no talent.

A good director’s not sure when he gets on the set what he’s going to do.

One final thing a director needs: The ability to say ‘I am wrong’ or ‘I was wrong.’ Not as easy as it sounds. But in many situations, these 3 words, honestly spoken, will save the day.

I hate the Communists and have for many years and don’t feel right about giving up my career to defend them. I will give up my film career if it is in the interests of defending something I believe in, but not this.

I question the value of stars. I think they’re overrated. They get too much money, too much praise.

I didn’t have the problem of finding myself at 45 on the wrong course – I always wanted to be a film director.