Maximilian Schell

I never played the right roles, or very rarely got the right roles offered, except on stage.

To be honest, I don't think I'm an actor. I'm a creator - or try to be.

I'm always happy when I'm left alone, but if somebody comes and is nice, then we talk.

A conversation goes sometimes into personal things and that's nicer. You look to each other and you have a different picture, you get into a relationship.

First love is first love, first marriage is first marriage, disappointment is disappointment.

The interesting thing is that I found scenes which I put together which could appeal to almost every woman, or apply to almost every woman after the war. Falling in love, dancing, marrying.

When you have the cast, the sets, the lights, an opera takes on its own life. I'm not one of those directors who marches in with a set of plans.

And in reality, I don't think it's a real documentary. It's more a story of her life. It's a story of survival. It's a story of the time in which she lived. The story of success and failure.

I did have fun, for example, in The Black Hole which was very popular among youngsters.

Well, I did Marlene 15 years ago and that's in the style. It's somehow similar and not similar because Marlene was much more aggressive, funny and sad.

My mother was an actress and a director, as well. And my father was a playwright and poet.

We should never forget that Hollywood was built by Europeans, and the old Jewish boys from Eastern Europe.