Theodore Melfi

You have a responsibility to make inclusion a daily thought, so we can get rid of the word 'inclusion.'

daily thought you responsibility

The concept of 'family' has changed so much. It's not just 'mom and dad' anymore. It's 'mom and mom' and 'dad and dad,' and it's kind of beautiful.

dad family mom beautiful

NASA didn't give a crap what gender you were or what race you were. If you could do the math, you were valuable.

nasa you gender race

The fact is this: NASA was desegregated by a white male. NASA was not desegregated by a black male. NASA was not desegregated by white women.

nasa women black white

To me, there are saints every day. They stand up and help others and live for others and do things for others.

help-others every-day day me

We don't have parades for mathematicians, we have parades for astronauts. You don't think about all the thousands of people who worked on that capsule and crunched the numbers and were integral in getting that into space.

think you space people

By the time I got to 'St Vincent,' I had shot so many scenarios I was ready for anything - I've shot kangaroos, I've shot dogs, cats, crowds, fight scenes, stunts, comedy, drama, handheld, dolly, helicopter, crane - I just felt that there was nothing I was unprepared for.

cats fight comedy time

For me, as a feminist, as somebody who wants to lift up women - because I do; I come from a single mom who raised three boys on her own - I feel like, you close the door on women, you close the door on humanity.

me you women humanity

You know what the truth is? You don't find Bill Murray. Bill Murray finds you.

know you truth-is truth

One thing that's nice about doing a movie about people that hardly anyone knows, you never worry if they're a perfect match.

never you nice people

Floyd Thompson, a white man, desegregated NASA. Period.

nasa period man white

As a director, you're open to any kind of criticism.

open director you criticism

We're all humans. Any human can tell any human's story. I don't want to have this conversation about black film or white film anymore. I wanna have conversations about film.

story black white conversation

We're very, very flawed, myself included.

included very myself flawed

Change is incremental. Change is small.

incremental small change

I think if characters change too much, it's unrealistic; their whole fabric of who they are as a person doesn't just disappear.

person think too-much change

My wife says I have happy delusions. I'm delusional that way. I just say, 'This is how it's got to be, and it's got to be.' I don't take no. I just don't like no. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. That's just how I am.

i-am wife happy sometimes

If you don't have comedy in a movie, you don't have a movie.

you movie comedy

Life is laughter.

laughter life

If you don't infuse humor into a subject matter, no matter how dark, the audience can't accept the message of a film. It closes them down. Humor can open them up.

you humor matter dark