66 Quotes by Olivia Thirlby

Oh, I love making independent films, it’s such a special, magical thing because you collaborate with a small group of people and everyone’s pitching in. You’ll see producers setting up the lunch table and the sound guy driving a van. We’re all really there because we want to be.

Acting is something that I always wanted, but I never paid attention to the notion that it might actually work out. You have all sorts of ideas about what you want to do – at one stage, I wanted to be a jockey – but this is the one that’s a big deal.

I had this totally impossible dream of being an actress. Trust me, just because I’m lucky enough to be doing this doesn’t make any of this less of a pipe dream. And nothing gets my juices flowing like a really great performance. To see someone on stage, I get really excited.

When I was starting out, I always wanted to be able to do everything – comedy and drama and action, and everything in between. Film is so diverse, and it’s fun to be able to take advantage of all of it.

I still audition a lot and work really hard to get work. So I don’t really walk around feeling like I’ve made it. My short term goals are really just to be creatively stimulated and to be excited about material I might be working on.

But I loved doing the physical stuff for ‘Dredd.’ I have to give a shout-out to the stunt team that I worked with.

There’s so much with my character in ‘Dredd’ that I identify with. She’s my favorite character I think I’ve ever played. She’s the most dynamic and fascinating woman that I could even imagine playing, so I love her. What I love about her is that her sensitivity is her greatest strength.

I can say I love working with women. Film is a man’s world, and I really appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with women, especially young women.

I go where the material is, and I feel like I’m looking for really strong directors. That’s the key ingredient. There are some directors I would move the sun and earth for, or stop the rotation of the planets, just to work with them.