Citas

I was up on 140th Street in Harlem, in 1992. It was 3 in the morning, and I was walking back to get a cup of coffee. These two young kids came up to me and said to me, "What movie is this?" I said, "Home Alone 2," and they said, "What do you do?" And I said, "I'm the director." They said, "Oh, you're John Hughes!"

I can understand the validity of showing people the ugliness of the world, but I also think there is a place for movies to leave people with a sense of hope. If your film isn't going to do that, I just don't think it's worth making.

[Macaulay Culkin] An incredibly charming kid.

[Robin Williams doing standup] I was just blown away at his energy. One of the most brilliant minds I have ever come across in terms of comedy. This ball of fire on stage. It was really impressive.

Becoming a writer and having films made is probably the best way to become a director.

[reading Marvel comics as a child] It was the most magical time of my life. It represented to me everything that was exciting about life.

[Adventures in Babysitting, his directorial debut] It gave me the confidence to be back on the set again.

[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid] I had never seen anything like it. It was just such a breath of fresh air. I loved being in that world.

My first day being on a set was extremely intimidating and frightening. But after a couple of hours, I just eased into it. I felt very secure and comfortable and I realized this is where I really want to be.

Nobody does anything for free in Hollywood. They have to be paid for everything.

[Robin Williams improvising in Mrs Doubtfire] Magical.

[Steven Spielberg and George Lucas] Two of my cinematic heroes.

Always listen to your own instincts. You can never be intimidated by the people you work with.

[Robin Williams as Mrs Doubtfire] You never had any concept of where he was going. You just never knew.

[recommending Pierce Brosnan to play James Bond to MGM] My little contribution to the James Bond saga.

Movies for adults are still great movies. Now we have a bigger genre of movies being made.

[Pierce Brosnan] A phenomenal actor.

[Sideways] A 70s movie made in contemporary times.

[26th Street in Manhattan in the early 80s] Not a particularly great area.

There's still an audience for smaller movies.

Martin Scorsese was a master of visuals while John Ford and Frank Capra were masters of storytelling.

Great comedy or dramas are made because someone is really passionate or obsessed by it. If not, it won't be a good film. Great filmmaking is something that can be esoteric which is all about the visual side of filmmaking or storytelling. When you develop a hunger for it, and there's something great out there, I want to see it before I find my great reward somewhere.

[In an interview with British magazine The Face in 2001, on making Mi pobre angelito (1990) and Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (2001)] You direct these innocent young kids in a movie and then two years later they're spending the weekend at Neverland ranch with Michael Jackson - that's creepy. You don't want that to happen again. With Macaulay [Macaulay Culkin], he went through a tough period with his parents. At the time, I hadn't had enough experience to know what could happen. Dan [Daniel Radcliffe] comes from two loving parents who are so involved with his life and concerned about his well-being. That was instrumental in me wanting to cast him.

[2025, on HBO's Harry Potter series] Our film was two hours and 40 minutes, and the second one was almost as long. The fact that they have the leisure of (multiple) episodes for each book, I think that's fantastic. You can get all the stuff in the series that we didn't have an opportunity to do...all these great scenes that we just couldn't put in the films. I look forward to seeing what they're trying to do with it. I think it's great.

[2025, on current-president Donald Trump's brief cameo in 'Home Alone 2'] It's become this curse. It's become this thing that I wish it was not there. It's become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone. If I cut it, I'll probably be sent out of the country. I'll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I'll have to go back to Italy or something.