Peter Weir

Peter Lindsay Weir, AM (/wɪər/; born 21 August 1944) is an Australian film director. He played a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema (1970-1990) with his films such as the mystery drama Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), the mystery drama-thriller The Last Wave (1977), the historical drama Gallipoli (1981), and The Truman Show (1998).

Portrait of the artist: Peter Weir, director (2011)
Portrait of the artist: Peter Weir, director, The Guardian (May 10, 2011)


 * Get the right actor, and the job's halfway done. I've only miscast major people twice in my life – out of respect to them, I won't tell you who. After a couple of days' shooting, I had to tell them I was letting them go. It was hideous.


 * Music is the fountainhead: everything comes from that. At the moment, I'm getting intoxicated on Beethoven, and I use Pink Floyd for inspiration while making a film. Their music contains a sound for almost everything I do.


 * When you get a cut and think, 'I'm going to make a halfway decent film.
 * When asked for his 'high point'


 * The feeling that maybe you won't ever get your inspiration back. That's a very cold place to be.
 * When asked for his 'low point'