Synecdoche, New York (2008) quotes

Director
Charlie Kaufman.

Cast
Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Samantha Morton.
Michelle Williams. 

A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

I know how to do it now. There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They’re all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.
– Caden Cotard

I’ve watched you forever, Caden, but you’ve never really looked at anyone other than yourself. So watch me. Watch my heart break. Watch me jump. Watch me learn that after death there’s nothing. There’s no more watching. There’s no more following. No love. Say goodbye to Hazel for me. And say it to yourself, too. None of us has much time.
– Sammy Barnathan

I didn’t jump, Sammy! A man stopped me before I jumped! Get up! I didn’t jump.
– Caden Cotard

I will be dying and so will you, and so will everyone here. That’s what I want to explore. We’re all hurtling towards death, yet here we are for the moment, alive. Each of us knowing we’re going to die, each of us secretly believing we won’t.
– Caden Cotard

I don’t have a resume, or a picture. I’ve never worked as an actor.
– Sammy Barnathan
Good. Tell me why you’re here.
– Caden Cotard
Well I’ve been… I’ve been following you for twenty years. So I knew about this audition because I follow you. And I’ve learned everything about you by following you. So hire me. And you’ll see who you truly are. Peek-a-boo. Okay… Hazel, I don’t think we need to talk to anyone else, this guy has me down. I’m going to cast him right now. And then maybe you and I can get a drink and we can try and figure out this thing between us. Why I cried… Because I’ve never felt about anybody the way I feel about you. And I want to fuck you until we merge into a Chimera, a mythical beast of penis and vagina, eternally fused, two pairs of eyes that look only at each other, and lips, ever touching, and one voice that whispers to itself.
– Sammy Barnathan
Okay. You got the part.
– Caden Cotard

Hazel, you’ve been a part of me forever. Don’t you know that? I breathe your name in every exhalation.
– Caden Cotard

Everyone is disappointing the more you know them.
– Adele Lack

The end is built into the beginning.
– Hazel

Dear diary, I’m afraid I’m gravely ill. It is perhaps times like these that one reflects on things past. An article of clothing from when I was young. A green jacket. I walk with my father. A game we once played. Pretend we’re faeries. I’m a girl faerie. My name is Laura Lee. And you’re a boy faerie. Your name is Tita Lee. Pretend, when we’re faeries we fight each other, and I say “Stop hitting me I’ll die!” And you hit me again and I say, “Now I have to die.” And then you say, “But I’ll miss you.” And I say, “But I have to. And you’ll have to wait a million years to see me again. And I’ll be put in a box, and all I’ll need is a tiny glass of water and lots of tiny pieces of pizza and the box will have wings like an airplane.” And you’ll ask, “Where will it take you?” “Home.” I say.
– Olive

I like it. I do! I’m – I’m just really concerned about dying in the fire.
– Hazel
It’s a big decision – how one prefers to die.
– Burning House Realtor

Knowing that you don’t know is the first and most essential step to knowing, you know?
– Claire Keen

I don’t think you should tell her she doesn’t have blood…
– Caden Cotard

I feel ok, mostly… fucking might help.
– Tammy

Caden Cotard is a man already dead, living in a half-world between stasis and antistasis. Time is concentrated and chronology confused for him. Up until recently he has strived valiantly to make sense of his situation, but now he has turned to stone.
– Millicent Weems

Try to keep in mind that a young person playing Willie Loman thinks he’s only pretending to be at the end of a life full of despair. But the tragedy is that we know that you, the young actor will end up in this very place of desolation.
– Caden Cotard

It’s all about your artistic satisfaction, Caden.
– Maria
You’re stoned.
– Caden Cotard

Sammy’s fun!
– Hazel
I’m fun!
– Caden Cotard
Oh honey, no you’re not.
– Hazel