Jennifer Yuh Nelson Quotes

I want a space for people to feel safe and be creative. Actors want it, too. They want to feel like they’re listened to, and they’re safe to experiment.

I think the idea of a distant, far off dystopia, where the world is completely different from what we have now, is good, but it’s been done. Especially in YA movies.

If you have a movie that doesn’t strive to go to a certain emotional point, you can do anything and it will be fine and funny. But if you have something pretty emotional at its core, you have to make it right. You don’t want it overwrought or unearned. Everything has to be moving towards this one thing.

I’m a hard-core geek.

I only think in live action.

I like to draw, and my drawings are what yell and scream for me.

I’m not aggressive by nature and it was tough for me to make the transition to directing.

It’s important to listen to the actor who is there on the stage and living it.

My producer for the first ‘Kung Fu Panda’ movie, Melissa Cobb, is an amazing woman. She‘s supersmart and helps push everyone – male, female, anyone – to do their best.

I don’t believe in overcooking the actors too much. Especially when it’s a real performance that I’m looking for.

I think in the experience of growing up and realizing who you are, what your place in the world is can be quite scary.

I like action movies, and I prefer to watch a bad Hong Kong action movie to just about anything else.

When people feel safe, they can come up with ideas.

You have to figure out how you can step forward and affect your own life. I think that sense of empowerment is actually really positive, specifically for the young generation because they’ve been bystanders in their own lives for a while.

It’s really helpful to have somebody to bounce off of and that will say, ‘Yeah, that’s a horrible idea. You shouldn’t do it.’

I always want to do a big finale.

I like action. It’s not typical, but it’s a passion.

I’m a very soft-spoken person. I don’t throw furniture. I don’t throw tantrums.

If the actor doesn’t feel it’s right, that’s when you say, ‘OK, let’s find something else.’ It’s then that you get the natural moment.

Talking to actors is the same as talking to any other artists; it’s getting into the moment for them, and making sure they can lose themselves in the performance!