Stephen Daldry

One of the great things about directors is how collegial we feel with each other. We share huge amounts - I get other directors in to see my work all the time and they do the same with me. It's a very warm and generous group of people. Show less «

[One afternoon in 1989, in the Scripts Department of the Royal National Theatre, the young Daldry expressed his frustration at trying to find regular work in London] I'm not trendy enough to get a job as a bicycle messenger. Show less «

They never met. We shot Meryl first, then Julianne, then Nicole. The first time they got together was on the Oprah Winfrey show and talked about cornflakes. [on 'The Hours'] Show less «

When I made Billy Elliot, people asked me, "Oh, did you want to be a dancer when you were young, then?" I didn't even like dance before I made the film. "Do you come from the north-east?" No, Somerset. "Is it based on someone?" No. We made it up. We just made it up. The act of making something up seems to be very difficult these days. Show less «

"What's so funny is when people say, 'Oh, does that mean you're not gay anymore?' And you go, 'Oh, give me a break. What do you mean?' We wanted to have kids! We thought we'd get married and have kids. We're allowed to do everything. I refuse to be boxed in to the idea that 'Oh, no, I can't have kids 'cause I'm gay.' I can have kids if I'm gay. And I can also get married and have a fantastic life...To all questions [having to do] with my marriage, the answer to everything is yes. Do I have sex with my wife? Yes. Is it a real marriage? Yes. Am I gay? Yes." (quoted in The Advocate after the birth of his daughter Annabel Clare) Show less «

I get frustrated about it because they say, "How can a man talk about women? I say, "Steven Spielberg didn't need to be an alien to talk about ET. You don't need to be a dog to direct Lassie. It seems to be a denial of the process of imagination, which is a posh word for "guesswork" [on 'The Hours'] Show less «