Screenwriting 101: Guinevere Turner
“Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you have a cushy life — you just sit around and write.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s actually really hard.’ As I like to say, I wish my job was being a bricklayer — because I would lay the bricks, the wall would be built, and that would be it. Nobody could deny that it’s a fucking brick wall. Nobody’s gonna come along and say, ‘Mmm, I think that brick should be over here.’
I stay positive because most days, I don’t have to get up until I want to get up. I also work in my pajamas for most of the day. I get to go to movie premieres, and have people vaguely acknowledge my contribution. I stay positive because I love my life.
You know, I had an office job once, for a year and a half, and I was suicidal. I was twenty-two — maybe I was suicidal anyway. But I mean, I love that I actually get paid, more or less, to do what I do. And whenever I’m feeling whiny and sorry for myself, I’m like, ‘You’re not homeless, you’re not dyin’ of cancer, you slept until ten, you get to go out and party tonight. Your life rules.’”
— Guinevere Turner (American Psycho, “The L Word”), excerpted from “Tales From the Script”