Happy Birthday: Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty

Born: March 30, 1937 in Richmond, Virginia, USA

Married to: Annette Bening (3 March 1992 – present) (4 children)

A director needs to be in control, but he really shouldn’t be in complete control, because then things could be very boring, and he wouldn’t take advantage of unexpected developments and opportunities. There are people who storyboard everything. I don’t do that. I’ll storyboard some stuff, but mainly I’m ready for the unexpected. I think that’s important. You can’t plan too much. I always think of a quote from Napoleon when they asked him to explain the intricacies of his battle plan. He said, ‘Well here’s the plan. First we go there, and then we see what happens.’

It’s best not to act and direct at the same time. When I direct myself, I do more takes than if I’m being directed by someone else. Rather than stop and look at it, I just do it again. And I like to have my fellow actors feel that they’re directing it at the same time. I try to lead them into thinking it’s sort of a fake democracy, when it’s actually, ultimately, kind of a fascist dictatorship, one would have to admit.

[asked about his many loves] I have only one, Annette.

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