Paul Feig
Paul Feig
Paul Samuel Feig /ˈfiːɡ/is an actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the 2011 film Bridesmaids, featuring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. Feig also directed the comedy films The Heatstarring McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, and Spywhich stars McCarthy, Jason Statham, and Jude Law...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth17 September 1962
CityMount Clemens, MI
CountryUnited States of America
The dueling maturity levels in high school is such a source of comedy to me. I was always such a late developer. I was last to walk. I was last to ride a bike. I was last to have sex. That's why it's fun to portray one side of your childhood onscreen.
The greatest way for people to experience a comedy is to go in not knowing anything about it. But because of marketing, it's impossible. Marketing meaning that in order to get people to come you can't just go, 'Hey, there's a great movie - we're not going to show you anything from it but trust us!
What I do as a director is really create a safe environment that everyone can feel very comfortable in and experiment within so that they don't hold back anything. You never ever want someone to go, 'Oh I shouldn't have done that.' There isn't anything you shouldn't try. If it's terrible, who cares?
What you never want to do is have a story that doesn't track emotionally, because then you're going joke to joke and you're going to fatigue the audience. The only thing that's going to string them to the next joke is how successful the previous joke is.
Katie Dippold, who I wrote the script with, she's very into ghosts and all that. So I go, "Hey, why don't you talk to Katie?"
Women's humor seems to be a little more supportive. It's just kind of trying to make the other one laugh through funny voices and kind of talking about other people. I respond to that. I feel less like I'm going to get beat up in a room full of women than I do in a room full of guys.
There's nothing worse than the sequel that's a letdown from the first movie.
Throughout my teens, I just wanted to go somewhere I could wear a Donald Duck pin and no one would care.
I'm really a skeptic. I'm kind of not a believer in the paranormal.
We didn't used to be so precious about women in comedy back in the old days.
When I went to high school, in the late 1970s, disco was in full swing and anyone who was into it dressed the part. I know I did.
Hey, I'm like the Wayne Gretsky of the entertainment biz - I have other people do my dirty work while I skate around and get to be a nice guy. What can I say? I'm a coward.
The good thing is that I really think that American television is in kind of a second golden age. Even though there's a lot of reality and all those contest shows, which aren't my kind of shows, the scripted stuff that's going on is so good right now because of basic cable. Everyone has stepped it up and realised that people like quality.
If you're not connected emotionally to a story, then you're dead. You're really just opening the door for people to lose interest and their minds to wander, for them to start picking it apart.