Mark Rydell Quotations

I remember thinking at that moment that he was not long for this world. Anybody who could do that had such a reckless personality that sooner or later it was going to catch up with him,

He's very alive in a scene. He's a very good actor to act with. Even though through most of the picture he's blind, there are many places early in the picture I got to be with him before he was blind. Like convincing him in the office to do the picture.

For 30 years he was the conscience of Hollywood,

He was a psychotic. He was a borderline psychotic. He was a terrific, sensational actor, with a magical screen presence, you couldn't keep your eyes off him, but he was paranoid. He was sure everybody was out to get him.

So he was really a tortured fellow, ... He felt very lonely during that period. But he felt that it helped him. And it did.

Well you know, Woody doesn't rehearse, as opposed to my own method of directing where I really work with actors around a round table for weeks, examining the values of the material, so his technique is very different.

He said he wanted me to play a part, and he's done that a couple of times before but I haven't been available because I was making my own pictures.

You don't improvise. Well, you might improvise in a moment, trying to find something but for the most part everything is written by Woody, every word.

I consider his performance to be a miracle, ... I think he's one of the most talented people I've ever met. You know, he's 22 years old. ... He just transformed himself. At times it seemed eerie. It was like cloning or channeling James Dean. There were moments where I thought, 'My God, this is really bizarre.'

There are a lot of memories that are very... nutritious. I've had a very fortunate career. I've worked with practically every icon you can think of.