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I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.

Barry Levinson

Ronald Reagan was this actor who was going to be president, and he was very charming. What he had was, he talked about America in ways that got people all caught up in it. He was creating this America – it could even be the mythical “America” – that we subscribe to.
BARRY LEVINSON

Charming People President
I do know when you look at some ballplayer and all of a sudden he is the size of a truck something is wrong.
BARRY LEVINSON

Looks Size Truck Wrong
I don’t know that you can do it as a satire. I mean, the business is crazy enough as it is. It’s like doing Wag The Dog – we took a thing that was almost completely absurd on one level, and then ultimately those things came about.
BARRY LEVINSON

Crazy Dog Mean
Studios just sometimes make decisions on their own that you’re always flabbergasted by. It just happens that way for whatever reason – not even pointing fingers, it just is.
BARRY LEVINSON

Decision Happen Reason Sometimes
I got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.
BARRY LEVINSON

Anxiety Chance Country Film Person Two
It’s always hard to explain why an audience ultimately responds to a movie.
BARRY LEVINSON

Audience Hard Respond Ultimately
You don’t always have to have the ending, but you want to have a satisfactory conclusion.
BARRY LEVINSON

Conclusion Satisfactory Want
First of all, just to get Diner made would have been an achievement in that I got a chance to direct.
BARRY LEVINSON

Achievement First
The interesting thing about movies, it’s not always – y’know, you have to have structure etc and all those things, but an audience responds, in many ways, we walk away and certain things stay in our heads that are memorable.
BARRY LEVINSON

Interesting Memorable Way
I don’t know that you can do an absurdist film and just have everybody embrace it in terms of filling out cards. I just don’t think it happens. So you have to prepare an audience.
BARRY LEVINSON

Embrace Film Thinking
Some actors are supposed to be very difficult, but I’ve not found that to be the situation.
BARRY LEVINSON

Actors Found Difficult
When I began to think about the head of the family, the storyteller, the rise of television which became the new storyteller, the break-up of the American family as an idea and then Avalon came.
BARRY LEVINSON

Break Idea Thinking Up
A lot of time mistakes are very interesting – you look for the behaviour that’s not the one you expect.
BARRY LEVINSON

Interesting Looks Mistake
There was a time when I said, “I’m going to go do a television thing,” after doing all these theatrical films, and heard, “Television? Why are you going to go back to television?” It’s an interesting place.
BARRY LEVINSON

Film Interesting Television
I think we are seeing a radical shift in the business in general. The studios are making much more of the real big extravaganzas and there are other kinds of films that are coming out. I think you are going to begin to see more diversification that we’ve seen in the past.
BARRY LEVINSON

Past Real Thinking
I’m fascinated by documentaries, to begin with. Because of the nature of television, as opposed to theatrical, documentaries can be in this long form and take you on a journey.
BARRY LEVINSON

Documentary Fascinate Journey Long

I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.

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I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.

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Popular Authors

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