Rob Reiner Quotes

Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself. And that's a lot. Because if you can fix yourself, it has a ripple effect.

I like writing because you can make things happen and turn out the way they never do in real life.

If you have tapped into something that is real for you, chances are you are going to tap into something that is real for someone else.

The idea of playing a part where I get to wear a completely undetectable hairpiece... you can't walk away from that.

The problem we have right now in Washington is we don't have the face of a leader.

My fear is that the Tea Party gets a charismatic leader. Because all they're selling is fear and anger. And that's all Hitler sold. 'I'm angry and I'm frightened, and you should hate that guy over there.' And that's what they're doing.

People always said, "I can't believe you made a movie that had no script." Yeah, but here's the thing, if you've got actors who are used to that, and that's what they like to do, they're all good improvisers and they're all people that feel comfortable doing that, then you know, it's not that big of a deal. It's what you do.

With the films I've done, I've written on them, I've acted in some of them. And even ones I haven't acted in, I've acted them out just to be sure another actor can do them.

Albert [Brooks] was rare in that he could make adults laugh. He was a prodigy. At age 15 and 16, he could make my dad laugh uncontrollably. And whenever we had parties, some of the funniest people of my generation - whether it was Billy Crystal or Robin Williams or John Belushi - would be doing shtick.

Pretty much anything you laughed at in the second half of the 20th century can be traced back to Your Show Of Shows.

Every single person in jail for a violent crime had a nightmare childhood.

I hate those movies where hundreds of people get blown up and there are jokes afterward. They poison the soul.

Whether it's films or painting or music or writing a book, the greatest experience is being able to express yourself and what you've gone through, trying to figure out a way to make it into something that's artistic that people can connect with.

Something is wrong here, and it's more than easy access to guns or violence on TV. It's about lack of love and attachment to loving people early in life.

I know how sobering and exhausting parenthood is. But the reality is that our children's future depends on us as parents. Because we know that the first years truly last forever.

I guess as I get older, I'm kind of getting drawn to the things that I really love the most, which is trying to figure out ways of blending politics with humor, and making it interesting. So I don't know if anybody's interested in this stuff, but I like it, so I get involved with it.

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Winters. He's influenced everyone who's ever done improvisational comedy. You look to Jonathan Winters for inspiration. He paved the way.

I was already interested in directing when I was very young. I knew that was something I was going to be doing.

I was certainly a child of the '60s, and I came out of that era, and as a young actor, I got cast as a lot of counterculture hippie types.

Women are more in touch with their feelings, they're more emotionally developed, they know what's important in life, and the men run around like idiots trying to figure that out until they meet a woman that can show them what's important.

I decided to not just be about protesting or speaking out against certain things, but actually trying to get things done. That has been tremendously fulfilling for me.

Anytime a movie lasts, it's really a thrill. I mean, that people can still pick up on it, and still enjoy it, that makes you feel great.

We agreed that we cannot let personal political attacks get in the way of doing the very best we can for California's children.

I've known Alan Zweibel since 1975, and I've always had this sneaking suspicion that he might possess a sense of humor. After reading CLOTHING OPTIONAL, I'm almost sure he does.

Under the current system, all children under 17 are treated equally. However, while some films may be appropriate for older children to see with parental accompaniment, some are inappropriate for younger children under any circumstances. This problem needs to be addressed.

I think Jews are the smartest people in the world

This is about the daily ins and outs of a marriage. I don't want to give away the ending, but they are trying either to make the marriage work or make the separation work. Our job is to make that interesting.

I was a kid who was really unhappy with being bussed. I was one of the angry people in the halls.

I'm always running around trying to raise money to make the films. Fortunately, I've been able to do that, but if I can't, at this point, it's not like I wanted to spend a lot of time putting together, you know, you spend a year of your life on something, you go, "What the hell am I doing that for?"

The movie studios, they only like to make - I make a joke, but it's true - if the movie has the word "man" and a number in the title, they'll make it. If it doesn't have that, it's an R-rated raunchy comedy, and that's it. Any other movie that you're going to make is going to be an independent one. So for filmmakers who want to do something other than "man" and a number, it's either independent films or television, which is like the place for real creative filmmakers to go.

I think there's great stuff on television. I'm hooked on all these shows. I love watching these shows.

If you've ever made up something on the spot and made somebody laugh, you can credit Jonathan Winters with inspiration.

For the last five, 10 years, you're seeing the best things happen on television.

I think for every parent, they know their kids better than anybody else, and they have to just trust their own instincts.

Most people are in marriages, and there are very few movies made about what it really is like to be married for a length of time. You always show the romantic part and all that. Or the divorce, and the horrible split, and the guy's having an affair, or she's having an affair, and they're going to get split up, whatever. But very few people just look at what actually happens in a marriage.

I love thrillers. I've never made them, but I would say a really good thriller is my favorite kind of a movie. If I can get a really great thriller, you know.

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Winters. He's influenced everyone who's ever done improvisational comedy. You look to Jonathan Winters for inspiration. He paved the way. If you've ever made up something on the spot and made somebody laugh, you can credit Jonathan Winters with inspiration.

When you do improv, you're everything. You're a performer, writer, and director, because you're moving the scene in the direction you want it to go, you're making it up as you go, and you're acting it. You're all of those things, so I always viewed myself that way. And with the films I've done, I've written on them, I've acted in some of them. And even ones I haven't acted in, I've acted them out just to be sure another actor can do them.

I make the joke, all the time, that if you have the word "man" and a number in the title, like Batman 2, Spider-Man 2 or Iron Man 12, you'll get it made. The kind of movies I make, studios don't make them. I've made a lot of movies, and at Castle Rock, we've made 125 movies. None of them get made at a studio. I've got to scrounge around for money, every time. I just like to tell stories. I'm a storyteller, so I want the most people to see it.

Usually, I have in mind what I want to do. I shoot pretty economically, so I'm not shooting tons of stuff that I could change, all that much. I'll cut something or add a little something back, but not too much. This is maybe the producer part of me, but I'm always worried about the budget, so I shoot what I know I need to shoot for the film.

TV's great. I think the best stuff is happening on television.

It gives you more freedom, the digital camera.

For me, the only type of guilty pleasure fun that I have in terms of my career is I act once in awhile. And I don't have any responsibility.

I love working with my dad, but I need to be independent and do my own stuff.

You work with every actor differently. It's like if you're a mother, if you have children, some children need more discipline. Other children you back off of a little bit and let them be. It's the same way with actors. Some actors need a lot of hand holding. Other actors like to be let be and you let them go. Some actors like to be nudged just a little bit. Some actors don't mind line readings.

When you do improv, you're everything. You're a performer, writer, and director, because you're moving the scene in the direction you want it to go, you're making it up as you go, and you're acting it.

Harry [Shearer] and I had an idea to do a movie about rock 'n' roll from the roadies' perspective, from backstage. Then Meat Loaf came out with a movie called Roadie and we thought, "Oh, we can't do that now." So we kind of discarded the idea.

I was also a congressman. I had decided to run for office and had become a congressman with Queen Latifah.

Hollywood is one of those places where, traditionally, money has come from - along with New York, Texas, Florida, Silicon Valley in northern California and the unions. But because of the Internet and the way campaigns are financed these days, you don't need traditional financing as much as you used to - and Barack Obama has tapped into that in a big way. But at the end of the day, people in Hollywood care more about [the presidency] than just the trappings of it and the surface type stuff. They care about the issues.

Usually I don't like to act in movies that I direct because it's kind of confusing.