Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hansonis an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes the psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential, the comedy Wonder Boys, the hip hop drama 8 Mile, and the romantic comedy-drama In Her Shoes...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth24 March 1945
CityReno, NV
CountryUnited States of America
Curtis Hanson quotes about
struggle character independent
On the surface, Wonder Boys seemed like such a departure from L.A. Confidential - it's funny, it's contemporary, and so on - and yet at a certain point, I had a feeling that reminded me how I felt when I was shooting L.A. Confidential. I analyzed it for a while, and thought about how emotionally involved I was with the characters. Then I realized that in both movies, there are three main male characters and one female, and all of them are struggling to figure out what they're doing with their lives, independent of each other.
people guy surprise
In L.A. Confidential, it was great to surprise the audience with Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe - two Australian actors that they didn't know at all - and let people discover them through the course of the film.
boys different surprise
That's what I love about Michael Douglas' performance in Wonder Boys, because I feel like he surprises audiences that know him from very different roles in his other work.
boys serious comedy
I very much had wanted to do a picture with more humor than what I had been allowed to do earlier, which is what attracted me to Wonder Boys so much. I found it funny in a very serious way, which is the best kind of comedy.
I love suspense movies, because in a sense they're the most dreamlike of any genre, and I'm sure I'll make another one.
giving trying environment
What I try to do is give each actor an environment in which they can do their best work.
memories childhood los-angeles
I had always wanted to tell a story that was set in Los Angeles in the '50s, because that's where I grew up, and it was the city of my childhood memories.
done kind surprise
Having done several of them and also loving other kinds of movies, I'm also tougher on suspense stories in terms of finding one that really excites and surprises me.
writing
Whereas to write, all you need is paper and an idea, so I felt that writing might be my stepping stone.
men guy imagine
You can imagine what it was like for me to actually be sitting in a room with matching typewriters, working under the tutelage of this guy I so admired, both as a filmmaker and as a man.
moving care caught-up
What you care about [movie] is whether it's moving you, or whether you're caught up in it.
successful giving circumstances
Consequently, it's so gratifying to then make a picture that's successful and gives you leverage to have better circumstances than you've ever had, before the next time out.
school
Consequently, their school [film-school ] was the school of life, and it was very much reflected in their work.
self-esteem issues female
Self-awareness and self-esteem. Those aren't female issues, those are human issues.