Alan Ball
Alan Ball
Alan Erwin Ball is an American writer, director, and producer for television, film, and theatre...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Producer
Date of Birth13 May 1957
CityMarietta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
authentic characters complexity create heroes infinite life
I didn't want to create a world of heroes and villains. I wanted to create a world of infinite complexity and confusion, ... I just wanted to see characters try to live an authentic life in a world that's increasingly inauthentic.
character emotional people
I definitely see the good in people. Certainly in my own life I strive to be somebody who is functional and well adjusted and can face conflict in a non-emotional and non-destructive way, and those are the people I try to surround myself with in my life. But as characters, they bore me.
character thinking roots
I think all writers are armchair psychologists to some degree or another, and I think a character's sexuality is fascinating. It's a great way to really get at the root of their identity, because it's such a personal thing.
character important care
Ultimately, physical resemblance isn't as important as whether this person can bring this character to life in a way that's compelling and makes me care about what happens to them.
character thinking world
I think the world is a place for oddballs and freaks. I'm only interested in oddballs and freaks as characters.
behind characters love pain suffering
We love these characters and we love them even when they're unlikable, ... We always see the pain and suffering behind the unlikable behavior.
characters differs feet
'True Blood' differs from 'Six Feet Under' in that there are way more characters and plot-lines, but fundamentally it's still about the characters and their emotions.
characters connection fans felt upsetting
The die-hard fans of this show really felt a connection to these characters and it was upsetting to them when he died,
felt suffered
Everyone on the show has suffered so much, I felt like you want it to be hopeful.
bored exactly number
I'm not like J.K. Rowling, where I know there's going to be this number of seasons, and I know exactly what's going to happen. I would be so bored if that was the case. There would be no journey. There would be nothing to discover.
wrote
I had no idea where I was going to go when I wrote the pilot,
certainly continue fortunate gets good guy work
I certainly feel fortunate in my career to have been able to continue to work in different mediums. I don't ever want to be the guy who gets really good at one thing and just does that over and over and over again.
although aware death early fall high life mortality sort
Death showed up in my life very early on, so I'm aware of it. If you look at most of the things I write there's a sort of contemplation of mortality - although 'True Blood' doesn't fall into that. Even though there's such a ridiculously high body count!
burn crash depending directing great happens movies people permission stop wait
Depending on what happens with my directing career, I don't think I'll stop writing, even if I crash and burn in movies and TV. I'll go back to plays. Even if I crash and burn there, I'll write a novel. That's the great thing about writing is that you don't have to wait for people to give you permission to do it.