Every single director-actor I talked to, from Warren Beatty to Clint Eastwood to George Clooney, said the biggest mistake they made is not shooting enough footage of themselves.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There is an established tradition of actors directing films that have a particular, personal meaning for them - Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and most recently George Clooney to name a few. Remarkably, their films share an unusually high percentage of being very good.
Not that it entirely matters: There is a perception that all actors make their movies. A lot of people assume you're responsible. George Clooney told me actors get all of the blame and all the credit.
I am aware that as an actor, I can blame others for the failure of a film, the director, the script, choice of co-stars, timing of the release and so on. But now, as the director, I will have to shoulder all the blame.
The problem with most Hollywood movies is they don't give the director enough control.
Any film you make is a crap shoot.
Sometimes the odds are against you-the director doesn't know what the hell he's doing, or something falls apart in the production, or you're working with an actor who's just unbearable.
A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people.
I'm one of the few directors that actually shoots a lot in camera.
This is Hollywood. People don't admit mistakes.
One of the best things about directing movies, as opposed to merely writing them, is that there's no confusion about who's to blame: you are.