John Cassavetes

Actor and film director who was regarded as a pioneer of American cinema verité.
"I'm sort of my own Mafia, you know, breaking my own knees."
"There's a difference between ad-libbing and improvising. And there's a difference between not knowing what to do and just saying something. Or making choices as an actor. As a writer also, as a person who's making a film, as a cameraman, everything is a choice. And it seems to me I don't really have to direct anyone or write down that somebody's getting drunk; all I have to do is say that there's a bottle there and put a bottle there and then they're going to get drunk. I don't want to tell them how they're going to get drunk. I don't want to tell them how they're going to get drunk, or what they would do, and I don't want to restrict them in being able to carry out a beat, to fulfill an action. You can't say somebody's drunk, or in love."
"Ricardo Montalban is to improvisational acting what Mount Rushmore is to animation."
"As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - but above all we must dare to fail."