Welcome to the world of Sam Levinson, a visionary writer and director known for his poignant storytelling and captivating dialogue. With a keen eye for human emotion and societal commentary, Levinson has left an indelible mark on the landscape of contemporary cinema and television. Born into a family deeply rooted in the entertainment industry, Levinson’s passion for storytelling was nurtured from a young age, ultimately leading him to carve out a unique niche in the realm of film and television.
Throughout his career, Levinson has fearlessly explored themes of identity, relationships, and the complexities of modern life. His works often delve into the depths of human experience, shining a light on the intricacies of love, loss, and the pursuit of authenticity. Whether through his critically acclaimed film Assassination Nation or his groundbreaking series Euphoria, Levinson consistently pushes boundaries and challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about the world around them.
Below, you’ll find a collection of insightful quotes from Sam Levinson that offer a glimpse into his profound understanding of the human condition and the power of storytelling. Feel free to use these quotes to inspire, provoke thought, or simply appreciate the brilliance of one of today’s most compelling voices in entertainment.
There’s always certain actors that are interested in certain things and other actors who aren’t. Sam Levinson
The way that I deal with actors as a director is I just talk to them forever before we even arrive on set. Sam Levinson
I don’t even like getting my picture taken because I feel terrible about the way I look. I’m so self-conscious about things. Sam Levinson
I don’t want to make a comfortable film. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in answering people’s questions; I’m interested in posing questions. I’m interested in sparking a conversation between two people about what something means. That’s enough for me, as a writer and as a director. Sam Levinson
I tend not to approach things intellectually at first. Maybe after the fact i can look at it and see ultimately what it’s doing. I start with the characters and their inner lives. Sam Levinson
If you keep your heart open you can meet people who change your life. Sam Levinson
Sobriety has a way of allowing a person to begin to realize that the things that you do have consequences for the people that love you. Sam Levinson
If you’re working in close-ups, then an actor is only able to act with his head. I like an actor to act with their entire body. Sam Levinson
To put it simply, I’m not interested in making comfortable films, and I don’t want to crush the audience’s imagination. I want them to feel like they might have missed something. Sam Levinson
I’m writing, I’m directing, I’m editing, I’m mixing, I’m showrunning. There is a certain point where it’s like, the work is the work. Sam Levinson
I remember John Waters’s ‘Pink Flamingos,’ that was the film where I realized you could do anything you want – there were no boundaries. Sam Levinson
So I think it’s important to just keep in mind that the work doesn’t end when the scene ends. You want to check on someone to make sure everyone’s good, and also create an environment where everyone is rooting for one another. Sam Levinson
I was never interested in acting on film or in television, but I was always more inclined to writing and directing, and the exploration of character. Sam Levinson
We as a country, our lust for entertainment has sort of superseded our sense of self-preservation. Sam Levinson
I always wanted to write and direct films for as long as I can remember. Sam Levinson
If you look at ‘Network’ or any kind of satire, it’s fundamentally unemotional in some ways. Sam Levinson
As a child I’m sure I was no different from any other human being struggling to navigate the difficulties and complexities of their childhood and adolescent years. I feel it’s a time when all of us need an escape, a place where we can leave the world behind and just disappear. For me, it was film. Sam Levinson
And the nature of split screen is a disconnect: It’s a line between two characters, two images, two realities. Sam Levinson
I am always curious to sit down with the actor who’s playing the part after the casting process and get to know them, get to understand their life a little bit more. Sam Levinson
When 60 – 70 percent of all interpersonal conversations and relationships exist through text messaging or social media, it’s hard to get advice from a parent who didn’t grow up in that world. Sam Levinson
I studied method acting for four years and I’m a big believer in the idea that it’s not about the actual experience itself. You don’t have to go through exactly what this character has gone through. Sam Levinson
But we’re not this one stupid thing we said three years ago, or ten years ago, or even last week. We seem to judge people as if they are. Sam Levinson
I can’t wake up every day and not thank Sundance. They’re a great beacon of light for any independent film. Just to have a film that you made shown on a screen for an audience in a theater is beyond me, so I owe them everything in the world. Sam Levinson
I don’t really outline. I just kind of know where I’m going in my head, so I’ll write and discover it for myself. Or I’ll just write an entire episode and throw it out because I land on an idea and realize that’s where I should jump off from. Sam Levinson
I spent the majority of my teenage years in hospitals, rehabs and halfway houses. Sam Levinson
For me, there’s far too many close-ups in film. They’re a television technique. Sam Levinson
Sometimes you can just have a dialogue with an actor beforehand and shape the performance then, but other actors need more guidance on the set. Sam Levinson
I can only get to a certain point as I write and then I have individual conversations with everyone that I cast. I always do a rewrite based on the conversations. Sam Levinson
Anything can be taken out of context and anything you say or do is not necessarily an accurate reflection of who you are in your totality. There are small moments of your life that when taken into account with the rest of your life start to paint a picture. Sam Levinson
I don’t design stories to fit some political ideology. I design stories about characters who I love and care about, while trying to make sense of an increasingly mad and toxic and insane world. Sam Levinson
I’ve always wanted to write, I’ve always wanted to direct. The conscious decision was always to not be an actor. Sam Levinson
I was very sensitive, so when sensitivity has no place to go, it’s often turned into anger or frustration. Sam Levinson
Do I think that, when we’re teaching a book at school, should we go through a myriad list of trigger warnings? No. But I understand why people desire it. Sam Levinson
I don’t really plan too much ahead when I write, because otherwise, I get kind of bored. Sam Levinson
I looked at theater, in the sense that theater is unmanipulated. If I want to pay more attention to one character on stage than another, I can. I think there’s not enough theater in film and not enough film in theater, in a way. Sam Levinson
Everything is spectacle. Everything is entertainment, whether it’s shame, invasion of privacy, abuse, no matter what it is it’s become almost a sporting event. It’s like the new Roman Coliseum in a way. Sam Levinson
I feel very strongly as a writer and as a director it is not my job to crush the audience’s imagination. Sam Levinson
I think what’s different about this time is that at least pre-Internet there were more similarities between one generation and the next. And now, I think that gap has grown in a very significant way. Sam Levinson
When we go to the cinema, we bring all of our preconceptions of actors with us. Sam Levinson