Charlie Kaufman Quotes

A collection of quotes by Charlie Kaufman.

Charlie Kaufman is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer, renowned for his distinct style and unconventional storytelling approach. Born on November 19, 1958, in New York City, Kaufman initially worked in television as a comedy writer, contributing to acclaimed shows like "Get a Life" and "The Dana Carvey Show." However, he gained widespread recognition with his debut screenplay, "Being John Malkovich" (1999), which garnered critical acclaim and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Kaufman continued to push creative boundaries with subsequent projects, including "Adaptation" (2002), a metafictional film exploring themes of identity and artistic creation. His unique voice and ability to deconstruct traditional narrative structures became hallmarks of his work. In 2004, Kaufman made his directorial debut with the highly regarded film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. The film received widespread acclaim for its poignant exploration of love, memory, and human connection.

Throughout his career, Charlie Kaufman has maintained a reputation for crafting thought-provoking and emotionally complex stories. His filmography includes "Synecdoche, New York" (2008), a meditation on existence and artistic ambition, and "Anomalisa" (2015), a stop-motion animated film exploring themes of loneliness and isolation. Kaufman's writing often delves into introspective and existential themes, challenging the boundaries of conventional storytelling and capturing the nuances of the human experience in a distinctive and introspective manner.

Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to

Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to deal with the restrictions of time and money that force you to make certain decisions you don't have to make when you're writing.

Charlie Kaufman


There's no way to approach anything in an objective way. We'

There's no way to approach anything in an objective way. We're completely subjective our view of the world is completely controlled by who we are as human beings, as men or women, by our age, our history, our profession, by the state of the world.

Charlie Kaufman


I'm not into extreme sports or something. I just live a quie

I'm not into extreme sports or something. I just live a quiet life.

Charlie Kaufman


I'm not a celebrity. I'm intentionally and defiantly not a c

I'm not a celebrity. I'm intentionally and defiantly not a celebrity. I don't have any interest in it. I don't have any talent for it. I keep my personal life out of my public life as cleanly as I can.

Charlie Kaufman

Life Talent Thepublic

I do like escapism. I like going to the movies on a Friday n

I do like escapism. I like going to the movies on a Friday night and seeing something fun.

Charlie Kaufman

Movies

I'm interested in trying to explore what I think is the trut

I'm interested in trying to explore what I think is the truth at a given time in my life, and part of the process of being honest is - in my mind - talking about the idea that you're watching a movie. You're sitting here watching a movie. And I like that. It appeals to me intellectually, and also in a way I can't even explain.

Charlie Kaufman

Truth

As a writer, or as a filmmaker, you have to present yourself

As a writer, or as a filmmaker, you have to present yourself, and part of what yourself is is what you're interested in, or what you think is funny, or what you think is sad, or what you think is horrible.

Charlie Kaufman

Funny

I think you just assume that your memory is just sort of a v

I think you just assume that your memory is just sort of a video playback of your experience, but it's nothing like that at all. It's a complete refabrication of an event and a lot of it is made up, because you're filling in spaces.

Charlie Kaufman

Experience

I think generally I'm kind of interested in subjective exper

I think generally I'm kind of interested in subjective experience, what goes on inside someone's head, that being all they really know of the world.

Charlie Kaufman

Experience

I've kind of come to the conclusion that what passes for rea

I've kind of come to the conclusion that what passes for realism in movies has nothing to do with reality and that my stuff is more realistic than that.

Charlie Kaufman

Movies

When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down un

When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row.

Alice Paul

Smile

I have a lot of health anxiety.

I have a lot of health anxiety.

Charlie Kaufman

Health

If you create something that is asking for people to respond

If you create something that is asking for people to respond as they're going to respond, you have to allow them to respond as they're going to respond. Some of the people are going to be uninterested and some people are going to be mad for some reason, which is their business. That's just the way the world is.

Charlie Kaufman

Business

I wanted to deal with someone's idea of their relationship.

I wanted to deal with someone's idea of their relationship.

Charlie Kaufman

Relationship

In a lot of movies, especially big studio ones, they're not

In a lot of movies, especially big studio ones, they're not constructed in any other way than to get people to like them and then tell their friends. It's a product.

Charlie Kaufman

Movies

I really don't have any solutions and I don't like movies th

I really don't have any solutions and I don't like movies that do.

Charlie Kaufman

Movies

When I'm writing, I'm trying to immerse myself in the chaos

When I'm writing, I'm trying to immerse myself in the chaos of an emotional experience, rather than separate myself from it and look back at it from a distance with clarity and tell it as a story. Because that's how life is lived, you know?

Charlie Kaufman

Experience