Bill Forsyth - biography

“I don’t really enjoy filming.”

“I’d made these experimental films but I thought the major chore of a filmmaker was to relate to actors.”

“I got into the habit of going to an art house in Glasgow and seeing films by Godard and Malle.  I combined my hair like Maurice Ronet.”

“I’m not fond of any of my films in an intimate way, but Gregory’s Girl would be number 4 on my list.”

“It means that if they misunderstood Comfort and Joy, they misunderstood my other films.”

“I didn’t think Comfort and Joy was going to be a box-office smash.”

“Perhaps naively I thought people understand what humor was, that it was invented by the human race to cope with the dark areas of life, problems and terrors.”

“It’s easier for me to get three times the amount of money I really want.”

“At the moment, my mother is the only one left in Glasgow, although it’s certainly my home.”

“The movie business is very much like that: people in authority making purely emotional decisions instead of interesting rational ones.”

“The studio system reminds me of the stock market.”

“I was quite surprised how easily people wanted to pigeonhole things I’ve done.”

“I went to the Glasgow Youth Theatre and they just let me in.  But I was so shy that I was there for about six weeks without actually introducing myself.”

“My two elder sisters married Englishmen and went abroad.”

“There are things that Scotsmen get and other people don’t get in the dialogue.  Scottish characters can be pinpointed by a phrase, targeted very quickly.”

Bill Forsyth directed the following films:
Gregory’s Girl (1981)
Local Hero (1983)
Housekeeping (1987)
Breaking In (1989)
Being Human (1993)
Gregory’s Two Girls (1999)


Bill Forsyth contributed to the screenplay for the following films:
Gregory’s Girl (1981)
Local Hero (1983)
Housekeeping (1987)
Breaking In (1989)
Being Human (1993)
Gregory’s Two Girls (1999)