Leigh Whannell Quotes

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Leigh Whannell

Profession : Director

Birth : January 17, 1977

It's a weird little anomaly about horror films in that the more money and noise you have, the less scary it gets.

Leigh Whannell

It's always an interesting experience with the 'Saw' films, when a sequel comes out that I didn't have anything to do with, creatively, because here's this idea, this story, and this character that I created for James Wan, but now it doesn't need me anymore.

Leigh Whannell

The problem with acting is that there's really no control. You're at the behest of others.

Leigh Whannell

The most fun part of making a horror movie is watching it with an audience.

Leigh Whannell

If I'm going to live in Sydney, I want to live on Bondi Beach.

Leigh Whannell

I think horror is a genre that can be quite good to women.

Leigh Whannell

That's what I love about writing is you don't need anyone's permission to do it. You can just get up in the morning, grab a pad and pen and start writing.

Leigh Whannell

I mean I met James Wan at film school. That's where we met. I didn't go to film school to find someone else to work with. I was thinking I would go and learn to direct and go and be a director like everyone else at school.

Leigh Whannell

I like pointing the camera at the actors and letting them fight. Don't let the camera do the fighting for you, and don't let the camera give them the adrenaline hit. Let the people in the frame do that.

Leigh Whannell

I do feel like in filmmaking you are largely in control of the perception of you. If you want to be seen as the comedic person you've got to write a comedy and go after that.

Leigh Whannell

If you look back at a film like 'Dawn of the Dead' - You can either watch it as a straight-up genre film and have fun with zombies being shot, or you can look at it as a metaphor for consumerism. Or a metaphor for the Vietnam war.

Leigh Whannell

What I feel like science fiction fans respond to is just people trying to hit them with something new, something they haven't seen. And if you do that you'll be okay.

Leigh Whannell

I love watching audiences scream.

Leigh Whannell

A lot of the fear about being a first-time director is just starting with a completely blank slate and thinking: 'Is this going to connect with anybody?'

Leigh Whannell

Somewhere along the way, the ability to make terrifying big budget films like 'The Exorcist' or 'The Shining' was lost, and I don't know if we'll ever get it back.

Leigh Whannell

I've actually written a children's film called 'The Myth,' which you could say is like a big 'Harry Potter'-esque fantasy for kids, and that's a film I would love to see get made. That's a dream project of mine.

Leigh Whannell

I mean, I certainly wouldn't want to paint myself as, you know, the evangelist for practical effects or some sort of anti CG guy because it's really a tool. Like filmmaking is this toolbox and you use what's appropriate in relation to the story.

Leigh Whannell

I always say that the horror genre and the comedy genre are close cousins because they are the two genres where you are attempting to elicit an involuntary vocal response from a crowd of people and you instantly know whether it's working or not.

Leigh Whannell

A lot of low-budget genre films you see are horror movies, because horror is the friendliest movie to lack of money.

Leigh Whannell

The thing I love the most about low budget films is the creative freedom.

Leigh Whannell