Greta Gerwig Quotes

“A People's History of the United States' was actually a very big book for me. I read it in high school, and I felt like my mind was really blown by it. I think the truth is I read it because it's referenced in 'Good Will Hunting.”

“As a writer, I think I'm mainly interested in contemporary themes, so when I create my own stuff, it's inherently that. But as an actor, I would like to do lots of different things. I would love to play someone completely different from myself in a costume drama.”

“As an actor, I just go off the director. I never ask how big the part is. I don't look at it from the perspective of, 'Is this going to be good for my career?' I just look for directors, and I think part of that is I knew I always wanted to be a director.”

“Books and theater were the way I understood the world and also the way I organized my sense of morality, of how to live a good life.”

“Courage doesn't grow overnight. It can be a long process.”

“Everybody is always in the middle of their own opera.”

“From Noah Baumbach, I learned to have a strict no cell phone policy on set. There is nothing that bums you out more than looking over and seeing somebody on their smartphone, and that goes for actors and everyone else.”

“Getting bad reviews or doing something that's not great is also really good for you as an actor. It also makes me feel as an actor that I've earned my stripes a bit.”

“Greta Gerwig always seemed like a name that was mine. My mother did a good job.”

“I always feel like a vague failure in L.A. – it always makes me feel like I should somehow be different than I am. And I don't know why.”

“I didn't know the city at all, but I was so happy to be in New York I cried. I was so excited.”

“I don't know any woman who has a simple relationship with their mother or with their daughter.”

“I don't really decide what the core of the story is before I write. I write to figure out what the story is. And I think the characters end up talking to you and telling you what they want to be doing and what is important to them. So in some ways, your job is to listen as much as it is to write.”

“I feel so part of the filmmaking community. It's amazing how much people support each other.”

“I get nerdy and nervous around not only great actors, but great directors and DPs I love.”

“I had dreams, but I didn't have the sense that they would necessarily work out. They seemed very far-fetched.”

“I have very strong feelings about dance and how it's shot.”

“I just don't feel like I've seen very many movies about 17-year-old girls where the question is not, 'Will she find the right guy' or 'Will he find her?' The question should be, 'Is she going to occupy her personhood?' Because I think we're very unused to seeing female characters, particularly young female characters, as people.”

“I lived for two years with six girls in an apartment that was built for three people, and it had no heat. We would sleep in our coats and in sleeping bags. And it was great.”

“I love big, sprawling movies where there are too many characters, and people get introduced halfway through, and you're like, 'Wait, who are these people?”

“I love movies, so getting to be in the conversation and meet some of my heroes has been so fun. It's just the most fun thing ever.”

“I love musicals. I grew up on musicals.”

“I love writing, and I think I'm kind of a workaholic. I'm happiest when I'm working.”

“I loved 'Moonlight.' I thought it was really beautiful. Really great.”

“I loved the idea of dramatic art of storytelling as a way to make sense of things. It's really what I love and what I care about.”

“I think as an actress, I prefer having a character on the page. It allows you to be more invested in actually creating a whole person. It's easier when you're not trying to come up with your next line on the spot.”

“I think being attracted to mistakes is one of the things that film can capture in a way that theater can't. Film can capture a moment of spontaneous life that will never be captured again.”

“I think I've always wanted to direct, but I didn't go to film school. I was lucky enough to work in movies, and I think those became my film school in terms of acting and watching directors work and also writing and co-writing and producing.”

“I think it's a great tragedy of childhood that you only really appreciate it once it's done: it's very hard to feel appreciative of the gifts you have until you're gone.”

“I think something about high school students being snobby about how much they have or don't have is particularly absurd because it's not theirs. It's their parents'. So to feel quite good about yourself because you've got the fancy house and car doesn't make any sense – you didn't earn any of that.”