Christopher Guest
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest, better known as Christopher Guest, is an English-American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian who holds dual British and American citizenship. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in a series of comedy films shot in mock-documentarystyle. Scenes and character backgrounds are written, but actors have no rehearsal time and the ensemble improvise scenes while filming them. This series of films began with This Is Spinal Tap, and...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth5 February 1948
CityNew York City, NY
I rarely joke unless I'm in front of a camera. It's not what I am in real life. It's what I do for a living.
I have a half Lab and half golden retriever named Henry and then the other one, Lucy, is half Akita and half something else.
We populate the stories with people who share certain traits. Invariably, someone will say, "I know that guy." Every world has odd people.
The movies have a way of seeping out there over time. We don't put them in 2,000 theaters. It wouldn't work that way.
It's not about one person. That's human behavior, and it's what I like to watch. I like to sit in the park and watch people.
In real life, people fumble their words. They repeat themselves and stare blankly off into space and don't listen properly to what other people are saying. I find that kind of speech fascinating but screenwriters never write dialogue like that because it doesn't look good on the page.
Comedy is like music. You have to know the key and you have to find players with good chops.
People want me to be funny all the time. They think I'm being funny no matter what I say or do and that's not the case. I rarely joke unless I'm in front of a camera. It's not what I am in real life. It's what I do for a living.
We all know many people who have been through this reality, and how it changes them. This happens to be an area I know something about. It's a virus.
I'm married to the person I fell in love with.
You know it's important to have a Jeep in Los Angeles. That front wheel drive is crucial when it starts to snow on Rodeo Drive.
I painted sets before I ever performed.
Folk musicians have a lot of the same self-importance, but they're way more cruel and jealous than rock musicians - I know this for a fact because I used to be a folk musician.
I spent more time in America, but I developed a very English sense of humour. I clicked into it deeply with Peter Sellers, who is still probably my favourite comedian.