Jon Favreau Quotes

Jon Favreau

Profession : Actor

Birth : October 19, 1966

I've always wanted to call the shots because I would rather fail than not have a chance to figure it out on my own.

Jon Favreau

I don't 'handle' people. It's so much easier to manipulate actors than to really have an earnest discussion with them. It's very easy to say whatever's going to appease them and then turn around and do whatever you want to do. It's difficult to be forthright with people, because the job does not lend itself to that.

Jon Favreau

Everybody loves a hit. There is nothing as fun as making a cultural splash with a movie.

Jon Favreau

I think that anything that leads to creativity and good work is good.

Jon Favreau

Unfortunately, we are not painters and authors, where we can do something in isolation. We require a lot of money to create what we create. It's almost like being an architect: You can't be an architect and build whatever buildings you want to.

Jon Favreau

Thankfully, I have a background as an actor, and you learn how to live in that world of not knowing what's going to happen next.

Jon Favreau

I wanted to be a New York City firefighter. I didn't make it in, though.

Jon Favreau

When I'm working with improv people, I give them the green light to just bring it and try things.

Jon Favreau

I've hit a point where my big luxury is getting to work on the things I want to work on. That's my hobby. It's being able to do a movie like 'Chef,' where you don't get paid, where you get paid scale, but you get to do exactly the movie you want to do. To me, that's worth more to me than whatever money I would have gotten paid.

Jon Favreau

I think the bigger the movie is, the harder it is to maintain the idea of an auteur. You're servicing something beyond just your own vision. Whenever there's a lot of money on the line, it is your responsibility to make sure that you're doing your best to have people not lose their money and to actually win by betting on it.

Jon Favreau

I like a naturalism to my dialogue and my comedy. I would rather have a few jokes sail by that might be more subtle than have every single joke hit hard. I would rather the comedy come out of character as opposed to feeling forced. Even if you're giving some laughs up for it.

Jon Favreau

For a movie - any movie - to work, all the bread has to fall jelly side up; everything has to go right. You have to hit the zeitgeist.

Jon Favreau

There is no free lunch, so if you're playing with the big train set - on big movies - it's a lot of money they're entrusting you with, and you have to get that money back for them. I don't take that responsibility lightly.

Jon Favreau

I like reading reviews. If they're clearly hating on you, I try not to read that deeply. But if they really are trying to understand, it's interesting.

Jon Favreau

A thoughtful piece of criticism by somebody who understands the context of what you are doing is a tremendous gift and honor to read, even if they don't completely embrace your work.

Jon Favreau

There's a lot of real estate in our brain dedicated to facial recognition and to physics. That takes a lot of processing power out of our brain.

Jon Favreau

I can't begin to tell you how fulfilling the perennial nature of 'Elf' on television has been for me. It's great to be able to connect parents with children both emotionally and through humor.

Jon Favreau

Of course I danced a lot when I was making 'Swingers.' The swing music scene was big in Hollywood, and I went to places like The Derby. And, after I wrote it and was trying to get it made, I would go every week so I'd be good at dancing.

Jon Favreau

At the end of the day, it seems like there's a critic archetype for food movies, like with 'Ratatouille' or anything. You know, if you were doing a puppet show about chefs, one puppet would be the chef, one would be the critic.

Jon Favreau

Especially in the food business, critics take very seriously how much power they have. They can shut a restaurant down.

Jon Favreau