Celebrities Neil Jordan, Birthday: 25 February 1950, Sligo, Ireland

A film director is a person who rushes to make the decision before anyone else.

The only reason I ever want to make movies is if there are characters that find bits of themselves t...Show more »

The only reason I ever want to make movies is if there are characters that find bits of themselves that they didn't understand. I don't believe we are fully rational beings. I don't believe that any explanation that we ever give for our behavior is adequate. Show less «

But in a strange way, the more organization and the more preparation you do, the more freedom it giv...Show more »

But in a strange way, the more organization and the more preparation you do, the more freedom it gives to the performances and to those things that are totally dependent on those moments when you shoot. Visual things are very complicated. I can't improvise visual events. I can't improvise a sense of composition. I have to compare. I have to look at the street where we are shooting on. I have to know where the light is coming from. Obviously, you would have to know where the trucks are parked and stuff like that. But what you cannot legislate for is emotion, the way emotion displays itself in a scene and that always comes from the actors. That is the way I work. Show less «

There have been too many vampire films lately. The extraordinary thing is it now appeals to young te...Show more »

There have been too many vampire films lately. The extraordinary thing is it now appeals to young teenage girls. If Anne Rice's vampires symbolized the spread of AIDS, the creature of the night has become something altogether more 'strange.' When I saw the first Twilight (2008) I thought "OK, well now it's become this allegory about chaste love between teenagers. How weird!" Show less «

If you're Irish, you would say there's religion and dying. You wouldn't say that sex has anything to...Show more »

If you're Irish, you would say there's religion and dying. You wouldn't say that sex has anything to do with it. Show less «

I'm fascinated by monsters [and] monstrous people and fascinated with illogic and irrationality.

The country I come from - even the dogs bless themselves.

Films are essentially attempts to disguise one's intentions, or state of mind. It's amazing, because...Show more »

Films are essentially attempts to disguise one's intentions, or state of mind. It's amazing, because there have been films I made that felt like they were opportunities to not be personal. But then, years later, it shocks me how revealing it is. Show less «

I would have loved to have been a proficient musician. When I was a kid, I used to play classical gu...Show more »

I would have loved to have been a proficient musician. When I was a kid, I used to play classical guitar, and when I was about 24, 25, I used to play various thing - piano, saxophone. And I fell in love with Charlie Parker. Show less «

[on Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)] It seemed to me to be about guilt. It...Show more »

[on Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)] It seemed to me to be about guilt. It was the most wonderful parable about wallowing in guilt that I'd ever come across. But these things are unconscious: I don't have an agenda. I'm neither a bad Irish Catholic nor a good one. Show less «

I grew up in a respectable, lower-middle-class home. Our family was quite educated; my mother was a ...Show more »

I grew up in a respectable, lower-middle-class home. Our family was quite educated; my mother was a painter, and stuff like that. And I didn't chop up my next-door neighbour. But I remember those emotions. It was a very strange world. Ireland is very grey, and it seems like nothing has changed for centuries. The only bits of colour were in churches, with statues and gaudy religious vestments. It was a very insanely Catholic country. And, you have an educational system run by celibate men in skirts, which is bizarre in itself. But, there's just a sweet irrationality to the whole place. - about his life growing up in Ireland Show less «

Hollywood's an animal that has a very particular way of moving. You have to know the way it moves an...Show more »

Hollywood's an animal that has a very particular way of moving. You have to know the way it moves and you only know it by going through it. Over the last few years they've been doing these versions of fairy tales, like Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), and I don't think they did them very well. I think I would have done them better. Show less «

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan's FILMOGRAPHY

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