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" I thought of Jeff Bridges in 'Hell or High Water' and Ben Foster, and I kept trying very hard not to, because you're terrified you're going to write this thing that then feeds specifically to this one person that then won't do it. "

Taylor Sheridan

Hell

Hard

Thought

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" You can really examine the suffering and consequences that happen when there's a loss in a family. "

" I've been very fortunate with my three spec scripts - which is sort of my thematic trilogy of the American Frontier. With 'Sicario', 'Hell or High Water' and then 'Wind River' - which is the third - there were no rewrites. It was the first draft for all three. "

" In the late '90s, I spent a lot of time on reservations, and there was a level of poverty and injustice that I had not witnessed before. I was shocked by it. This is federally controlled land, and there was an insidious mix of apathy and exploitation. "

" You know that saying, 'You broke it, you bought it'? With horses, if you don't make sure it's a good fit... they tend to break you. "

" Some of the most fascinating scenes in 'Unforgiven,' for me, is that scene with Gene Hackman where he's talking about the Duke of Death that Richard Harris played, and he's basically demolishing this myth of this man very unwesternly - not what you expect in a western. "

" I watched a lot of old movies. Clint Eastwood movies, a lot of John Wayne films, a lot of movies that celebrated the region of where I lived. "

" Sometimes audiences want to see what we're doing to their world. It's our obligation sometimes to reflect it. "

" Once I finished 'Sicario,' I knew I wanted to follow it up with 'Hell or High Water.' "

Taylor Sheridan

Finished

Hell

" I was going to be the head wrangler at a ranch in Wyoming, and the reason I didn't take the job is because I couldn't have my family there - the family had to stay in town. I just wasn't willing to do that. "

" I look for absurdly simple plots so that I can simply focus on the characters. Having an understanding of what dialogue's easy to say and hard to say - I think that that's helpful, too. "

" As a television actor, I was held to a tight, rigid structure. "

" People in Texas wear cowboy hats; they're good at keeping the sun off your neck and face. "

" While I feel it's important for films to examine our society, I don't particularly like watching the films that do it. "

Taylor Sheridan

Watching

Society

" I'm a storyteller, and I was an actor, so I have a fairly thin grip on reality to begin with. "

" To me, 'Unforgiven' is one of the best films ever made. Aside from the fact it takes the genre and kicks it between its legs, it's this fascinating deconstruction of the myth of the West. "

" One of the major issues that's constantly batted around Hollywood and the media is my industry's responsibility toward the portrayal of violence. There's the irony of the films that glorify it and the individuals taking positions against it. It's a very confusing, confounding place. "

" I didn't know if I could make a good movie. But I knew I could make a respectful one. "

" I let characters be human and flawed and relatable. When we do things that aren't that great, we can understand it. "

" My education - my Ph.D. in storytelling - comes from having worked on it, being a lover of film and watching them, from working with some great writers and some very good TV directors and then working with some who weren't. "

" How does one endure in a place they shouldn't be condemned to live in? You could take that same question and apply it to any number of neighborhoods in any number of cities. "

" Where having been an actor was extremely helpful to me was in casting. That's where I think a director who has acted can really shine, and casting is the most important thing you do. "

Taylor Sheridan

Think

Important

" I spent a lot of time doing really unimportant work as an actor. It was important when I started writing that I obviously make it entertaining, or no one is going to go see it - but to really make you think, that is my goal. "

" I sent 'Hell or High Water' to Peter Berg, asking if he'd like to be involved. "

Taylor Sheridan

Water

High

" I don't write tracking shots in my screenplays or any camera directions, but I do try to give a sense of how the action is moving. "

" As a filmmaker, you have to stand in front of what you did and make choices that you could do with a clear conscience. "

" I broke a lot of conventions. Look, I spent a long time as an actor. I spent a lot of time playing pretty ordinary arcs. "

" You've been entrusted with a lot of money and a lot of careers, and a lot of people put their faith in me, and every director goes through that every time. "

Taylor Sheridan

People

Faith

" I had three attorneys dedicated solely to find the statistic of the number of missing Native American women on reservations. Any reservation, not just 'Wind River.' They don't exist. The federal government, which is responsible for the reservations, don't keep those stats. "

" Plot is just not my gift. I'm fascinated with complex characters, and that doesn't mix well with complex plots. And by the way, when the plot is simple, you can move one piece around and make it feel fresh. 'Hell or High Water''s a good example: I don't tell you why the brothers are robbing the bank. "

" I was surprised by how much I liked 'Hacksaw Ridge' and its depth. "