Quote

I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.

Barry Levinson

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Barry Levinson
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: April 6
Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Baltimore
Maryland
Things
Television
Never
Actors
Comeback
Show
Eventually
Write
Began
Shows
Became
Wanted
Beginning
Writing
Actor
Really
Writer

More quotes by Barry Levinson

Image
They're intimidating the networks and levying these fines, so the networks are not sure of what they can or can't do.
Barry Levinson
Image
You have a movie and it proves itself and then certain things happen.
Barry Levinson
Image
There was a time when I said, I'm going to go do a television thing, after doing all these theatrical films, and heard, Television? Why are you going to go back to television? It's an interesting place.
Barry Levinson
Image
I think when Sarah Palin opened her mouth and started talking, the more she talked, the less appealing she became.
Barry Levinson
Image
I don't know that you can do it as a satire. I mean, the business is crazy enough as it is. It's like doing Wag The Dog - we took a thing that was almost completely absurd on one level, and then ultimately those things came about.
Barry Levinson
Image
I don't know that you can do an absurdist film and just have everybody embrace it in terms of filling out cards. I just don't think it happens. So you have to prepare an audience.
Barry Levinson
Image
I got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.
Barry Levinson
Image
I think we are seeing a radical shift in the business in general. The studios are making much more of the real big extravaganzas and there are other kinds of films that are coming out. I think you are going to begin to see more diversification that we've seen in the past.
Barry Levinson
Image
I'm fascinated by documentaries, to begin with. Because of the nature of television, as opposed to theatrical, documentaries can be in this long form and take you on a journey.
Barry Levinson
Image
When I began to think about the head of the family, the storyteller, the rise of television which became the new storyteller, the break-up of the American family as an idea and then Avalon came.
Barry Levinson
Image
I worked at a local television station and I got a chance to direct and do all those things - worked kiddie shows, Ranger House show with the hand puppets and things like that.
Barry Levinson
Image
The interesting thing about movies, it's not always - y'know, you have to have structure etc and all those things, but an audience responds, in many ways, we walk away and certain things stay in our heads that are memorable.
Barry Levinson
Image
I think test screening works at its best when the audience knows what it's getting.
Barry Levinson
Image
I think it's a promising time which will show a lot of diversification that we've seen in the past.
Barry Levinson
Image
I think certain movies work and that is part of the magic of it all. We can't truly define why something succeeds.
Barry Levinson
Image
It's such a funny thing. Hollywood is terrible unless you happen to be a celebrity who's a Republican. So Ronald Reagan can be a Hollywood celebrity, and he's a Republican, and then he can become the president, and that's okay. Fred Thomson, well, that's okay. But the rest we need to demonize. There's no consistency.
Barry Levinson
Image
Ronald Reagan was this actor who was going to be president, and he was very charming. What he had was, he talked about America in ways that got people all caught up in it. He was creating this America - it could even be the mythical America - that we subscribe to.
Barry Levinson
Image
I got involved with an acting school and studied for a couple years. They used to have improv exercises that you would work on and you would do improvs.
Barry Levinson
Image
It's always hard to explain why an audience ultimately responds to a movie.
Barry Levinson
Image
I've had a lot of movies that didn't get great numbers on test screening, but a lot of times the film was able to survive, or the studio still stayed and supported it.
Barry Levinson