Robert Downey Sr

“Well, this one, 8½, I mean, I think it became the film that every filmmaker, or wannabe filmmaker, said, "That shows you that you can make a film without knowing what it's about, you know, and try and find out while you make it." That's what he was trying to do. And then in the middle of the film, somebody says about the guy, Mastroianni guy, "Again, he has nothing to say." It was shocking. I said, "Wait a minute, I'm believing every second of this. What are you talking about?"”

“Another friend of mine, who was a friend of Hal, wrote this film. And I said to him, "How'd you come up with all that automobile nomenclature?" He said, "I made it up. I don't know shit, anything about it." I thought that was great. In fact, I spoke to him yesterday. His name is Rudy Wurlitzer.”

“I knew Jack when he was just starting, because one of my films came out when Easy Rider came out, and we were on the same circuit. And I knew him as a writer, too, and I mentioned his writing. He went, "I'm an actor now."”

“And you know about this guy, right? He was a friend of mine. He was one of the sweetest characters ever, and he was always interested in other filmmakers, Cassavetes. He always wanted to know how you were doing. And also Hal Ashby was the same way, another friend. And both these guys would be in heaven in this room. They wouldn't want to leave, you know.”