64 Quotes by Taylor Hackford

I think it speaks to the greatness of the man that he truly gave me the gift of allowing me to tell the story warts and all, ... To be able to see the good, the bad, the light, the dark. And Ray Charles had a substantial dark side.

That whole process of somebody who has all that charisma and talent, to be able to break through and make it in America is fabulous.

Our society gives power to people who are successful. All of a sudden, if you've created something unique and interesting, you're set apart.

I trusted my instincts here, but I'm not stupid. The next thing I did was throw him into the shark tank, ... I threw him in with Ray Charles.

It's all about the same thing, being able to pull people into a situation where you have a vision, and transport that vision off the page.

I had to go to Ray every year and apologize. And he was so wise in his way, he said, 'Taylor, don't worry, it will happen when it's ready to happen,'

If you are making a film about a very famous individual you live or die by the person that's going to play the main role, ... In this film I'm in big trouble because everyone knows what Ray Charles looks like. Everyone knows his movements, everyone knows his vocal patterns.

I heard his story and I thought, 'My God, this is a great subject for a film,'

You'd be surprised how many movie stars still care about the work.