Ryan Murphy Quotes

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Ryan Murphy

Profession : Writer

Birth : November 9, 1965

I only wrote two fan letters in my life. One was to Bette Davis. And one was to Ron Palillo, who played Horshack on 'Welcome Back, Kotter.' And Ron did not write me back, but Bette Davis did.

Ryan Murphy

I believe most people don't go into show business unless they've been majorly unloved as a child.

Ryan Murphy

For me, growing up in Indiana with cornfields and churches, I was always very intrigued by the Academy Awards - they were a big event. That was the one night of the year when all of the glittering movie stars got together, and I used to love that night because, as a child, it was a way to dream for me.

Ryan Murphy

Sometimes in entertainment, when people have done the Academy Awards - like, for example, in 'The Bodyguard' - I just didn't believe it; it didn't feel authentic.

Ryan Murphy

I'm fascinated by the whole clown phobia thing because I personally don't have it.

Ryan Murphy

In television and the movie business, the people who are promoted and the people who are mentored always look like the white guys.

Ryan Murphy

I find that women are much more comfortable showing their emotion and inviting you into their emotional landscape.

Ryan Murphy

I'm not interested in anything but emotionally driven stories; that's why almost all of my work is exclusively anchored by women.

Ryan Murphy

I love actors, but I really love actresses, and I really love actresses whose work touched and informed my coming-up years.

Ryan Murphy

When I started, you couldn't do anything. A gay person trying to write a gay character in 1998 - it was so difficult.

Ryan Murphy

One thing I always do is just tell actors that I'm as afraid as they are, because I can sense that, and I feel it, too.

Ryan Murphy

I think that the work that Bette Davis and Joan Crawford did was truly extraordinary, and that's their legacy. Not the other petty stuff.

Ryan Murphy

One of the unique things about 'American Horror Story' is, it's very respectful to actors. Actors in many cases don't want to be tied down to a seven-year contract. So my deal with the cast is: you're free after every year: you can come back, or you cannot come back.

Ryan Murphy

It's a weird thing, my shows. I don't know how to describe it, but I feel because I go about the casting process so slowly that it does feel like an instant family.

Ryan Murphy

I love Sarah Jessica Parker; I've worked with her. I think she's amazing... She's a great producer and has a great business acumen.

Ryan Murphy

I think the great thing about a television set is that it can be turned on and off, and you don't have to watch it if you think it's going to be something that you're not going to like or learn from.

Ryan Murphy

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis are larger than life. They just are. They sucked all the oxygen out of a room: they're icons; they loom large in our imaginations. But the truth of the matter is both women were diminutive.

Ryan Murphy

Larry Kramer wisely realized so early on that to change the world, people have to know you. If they know you and see that we are all the same - that we all have normal hearts - that's the first step. I'm both amazed at the progress and amazed at how far we have to go.

Ryan Murphy

Here's the thing: When you tell somebody, 'I love you. I have always loved your work, and I want to show people a different side of you,' it's sort of an interesting thing that in my case, I've been very lucky, where they're like, 'OK.'

Ryan Murphy

The Hollywood thing is - like, it feels like the biggest thing in the world, and yet it's the smallest town.

Ryan Murphy