Stephen Frears quotes:

Audiences arent fools - their judgement really is important. And the true heroes of films are the investors. They take the risk, after all.

It never crossed my mind to make a film about Muhammad Ali or the Queen or any of them! They just come out of the blue.

Audiences aren't fools - their judgement really is important. And the true heroes of films are the investors. They take the risk, after all.

As a director, my job is to protect. I protect scripts, actors, cameramen, designers.

I've always found poverty a source of strength.

I remember reading the script for 'Dangerous Liaisons' and thinking that I could quite happily spend the rest of my life watching this film; the story and the writing were so wonderful.

I teach film directing, inasmuch as you can. It's not really possible to teach film direction, but I sit there as a sort of testimony of experience and know-how, I suppose.

There's the physical life and the voice, but at some point you abandon all of that, you know what the spirit of the person is and you let it descend and just get on with it.

To be successful at anything, you need the right to fail, not just occasionally.

I like making films about different cultures. I'm interested in things that I've never encountered before. I try to put myself in the audience's position.

Truth is quite constricting, in a way. You endlessly see at the start of a film 'This is a true story'.

When I go and teach, it sort of opens me up in some way. And when you're open, you're more receptive.

I teach film directing, inasmuch as you can. Its not really possible to teach film direction, but I sit there as a sort of testimony of experience and know-how, I suppose.

The only way you can learn about making films is by making them, by putting your stamp on the thing.