Jonathan Levine Quotes

Jonathan Levine

Profession : Director

Birth : June 18, 1976

For whatever reason, the films I gravitate towards do have these strange sort of tonal balances to them... I kind of realized on '50/ 50' why I liked these blending of tones, because I think it's kind of what life is like: funny one minute, sad the next, scary the next.

Jonathan Levine

To me, using music is creating a shorthand with an audience. And I love music so much.

Jonathan Levine

I'm always walking around with headphones on, creating my own soundtracks to whatever the day is. I think I have a poppy sensibility.

Jonathan Levine

'Purple Rain' is probably the best soundtrack.

Jonathan Levine

There's so often - in filmmaking, you're backed into something that already has these set parameters, whether it's a sequel or a book that people love.

Jonathan Levine

I've had a couple of family members deal with cancer, and I remember that moment where they're going into surgery, and you just have no idea what's going to happen, and it's really scary.

Jonathan Levine

I was Paul Schrader's assistant for six months before I went to film school, and he's very much about knowing what's going to happen on every page before you even start writing dialogue - the entire plot and character arcs are mapped out.

Jonathan Levine

I definitely think New York is a very, very vibrant, wonderful city, but I certainly, of course, can't help but miss a lot of the stuff that's no longer there.

Jonathan Levine

There are things that I can tell my friends that I just can't tell my family, just as far as how I'm feeling about things. My friends know me the best in a certain way. I just think old friends are really, really important.

Jonathan Levine

I love subverting expectations or playing with the sort of unspoken kind of connections that the audience has.

Jonathan Levine

I have a cameo in every movie. In '50/50,' I'm in the back of the bus.

Jonathan Levine

I like zombie movies, and I like genre movies a lot. To watch. Less so to make, I think. But I grew up on that stuff. I would just grow up watching a lot of horror movies, a lot of slasher movies and then zombie movies.

Jonathan Levine

I like a pretty relaxed, fun set. Everyone knows they can bring whoever they want and hang out.

Jonathan Levine

I'm a writer and director. And the movie I've seen a million times is 'Coming Home,' directed by Hal Ashby and starring Jon Voight, Jane Fonda and Bruce Dern.

Jonathan Levine

I've been a huge fan of Hal Ashby forever. And I think that the distinctive thing about 'Coming Home' is the love story, and how - kind of emotionally real it is, and how these two characters allow each other to see their - kind of vulnerabilities. And it's great because it's a love story that's not really that cheesy, either.

Jonathan Levine

I definitely think for up and coming filmmakers, people graduating from film school, people that want to do their own movies, horror movies are a great way to go.

Jonathan Levine

Usually, the kills are almost Wile E. Coyote kind of things in horror movies.

Jonathan Levine

Right after 'The Wackness' came out, it was a really exciting time, and then it was a bit disappointing when it came out. Even though not that many people saw it, I was still getting offered some movies. I was thinking that people would just stop calling me since it didn't do very well at the box office.

Jonathan Levine

As a director, there's no natural career progression. So after 'The Wackness,' which was very personal to me, I was very, very picky about what I was going to do next, to the point where I think that I was almost too picky.

Jonathan Levine

'Warm Bodies' was a more long-term thing; I had to write the script, who knew if it was every really going to happen, if I'd find the right actors, and so on, so I grabbed '50/50' because I just fell in love with it.

Jonathan Levine