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I'm very interested in dysfunction. I kind of realized in my first film that a character with so much rage that she didn't know where to put it was both heartbreaking and interesting to me.
Karyn Kusama -
I ultimately am probably a pretty anxious person.
Karyn Kusama
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I think the crux of this urgent and real conversation about representation and diversity in art-making and storytelling both behind and in front of the camera ultimately has to do with simply seeing more human perspectives.
Karyn Kusama -
I want to make big movies - but I don't want to have to die a little death every single time I do. Until I meet the people or the studio or the business people who will let me do things a little bit more the way that I need to do them, I probably shouldn't be making big studio movies.
Karyn Kusama -
It's pretty gratifying to spend so long to make your first film and then feel like it got a lot of love - that was an incredible feeling. But there's something very distorting about that much attention. It felt like such a double-edged sword.
Karyn Kusama -
Sometimes evil is in the form of a malignant clown, and sometimes evil is in the form of policy and legislators, and sometimes it's a grinning death mask and it has something more viscerally terrifying about it.
Karyn Kusama -
I don't want to direct a Marvel movie. I don't care about those mythologies.
Karyn Kusama -
I was lucky to work with Gamechanger Films, who are a consortium of investors financing films directed by women. This is a company that puts their money where their mouth is.
Karyn Kusama
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For me, there's something about a certain kind of genre film that has real potency in its emotional landscape.
Karyn Kusama -
I guess because there aren't many women working in the kind of variety of spaces that I've had the opportunity and privilege to kind of work in, that there is this extreme scrutiny about my career.
Karyn Kusama -
As bad as some movies can be, good movies are also possible, sometimes through the very heinous corporations we love to trash.
Karyn Kusama -
I was in a very lucky position to be able to consider studio films and had decided to not go that route for a very long time until I read a script that I loved called 'Aeon Flux.'
Karyn Kusama -
I've been asked countless times, 'Why are you drawn to horror films? Why do you think women are drawn to horror films?' And it's because, in a way, it's one of the few genres that tells it like it is. A lot of times, women do feel like they're running for their lives somehow.
Karyn Kusama -
I understand the power of sorrow, and I understand how far it can take us from ourselves if we let it.
Karyn Kusama
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I get why we don't want to be in pain, but there's something very essential about what happens when we're in pain and some of the growth that can come from it if we stare at it straight in the face.
Karyn Kusama -
There's something about the girls and the boys who just live for the moment and don't think a second beyond their needs and the here and now that, ultimately, is pretty tragic.
Karyn Kusama -
I grew up in the Midwest. I understand a sense of the small-town mentality, small-town social politics.
Karyn Kusama -
I feel a kinship to the idea of beloved stories and beloved pieces of art that we can imagine in different ways and sort of take a meta approach in terms of what those stories offer us.
Karyn Kusama -
Sometimes you realize that the thing an actor is asking for isn't exactly the thing they want. Maybe they're asking for more dialogue, or maybe they want a deep intellectual exploration of their role. But probably what they really need is encouragement.
Karyn Kusama -
I do think there's a preoccupation that women understandably have with this idea of the roles we're meant to play and whether or not those roles serve us or ultimately kind of imprison us.
Karyn Kusama
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I'm strong-willed, but that doesn't mean I can't work with people if we're all in the mission of trying to make a good movie.
Karyn Kusama -
I think that there's something about short films that just kind of keeps your muscles sharp.
Karyn Kusama -
I've experienced a lot of successes. I've experienced a lot of failures. I've been able to get back up on my feet and keep going.
Karyn Kusama