Sam Taylor-Johnson
Sam Taylor-Johnson
Samantha Louise "Sam" Taylor-Johnson OBEis an English filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. Her directorial feature film debut came in 2009 with Nowhere Boy, a film based on the childhood experiences of the Beatles songwriter and singer John Lennon. She is one of a group of artists known as the Young British Artists...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth4 March 1967
art saved
I think I was lucky I got into art college. That's what saved me.
art artist became interest towards
I feel like I became an artist by default. I went to art college, but my interest was always more towards film than painting or sculpture.
artist creative hired knock
You think, 'You hired me because I'm a creative artist with a vision. Don't try and knock it out of me.'
art history people time
If you look at art history, at Goya or Gainsborough, it's always about acknowledging the people of your time who have influence.
artwork cross filmmaking films great precedent
I think, for me, Julian Schnabel set a great precedent in being able to cross over so successfully. I feel like his artwork is kind of big, grand, and bombastic, yet the films that he makes are very beautifully sensitive, and I just feel that his filmmaking sensibility is very different from his artwork.
constantly hard sit
I'm twitchy. I think I've got ADD. I find it hard to sit down. I need to be constantly challenged; otherwise, I get very... well, I guess 'bored' is the word.
power
In 'Fifty Shades,' seemingly, Christian has all the power and control - but actually, Anastasia does.
switch work
I'm motivated every second by my work; it doesn't switch off.
I'm not a shouter, and I'm not a bully.
acting interested people proportion seem specific staging work
I'm interested in the acting and staging of specific emotions, and so I work with actors. It's a small proportion of what I do, but it's always what people seem to focus on.
I want to protect my vision, and that's the hardest thing.
ended
I try to leave things as open ended as possible, not too overladen with meaning.
difficult direct gives men references women work
It's difficult for me to work with women, because I find that direct references are made back to me too fast. Working with men, it gives it a little distance.
astute clearest detail far work
Even today I work with Niall O'Brien, who is far more technically astute than I am, but I still have the clearest idea of every detail I want in my photograph.