John Patrick Shanley (born October 3, 1950) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American playwright, an Oscar winning screenwriter, and a theatre and film director. Read full biography of John Patrick Shanley →
Monogamy is like a 40-watt bulb. It works, but it's not enough.
I was in the Marine Corps in 1971. The idea 'Where does authority come from?' is fascinating to me. And also, the idea of a chaplain is... →
Conscience is the most dangerous thing you possess. If you wake it up, it may destroy you. To live a life of total moral rigor is not necessarily the... →
When I write a screenplay - and I think this is true for a lot of people - you direct the movie. That's what writing a screenplay is.
I'm Irish as hell: Kelly on one side, Shanley on the other. My father had been born on a farm in the Irish Midlands. He and his brothers had been... →
I've been writing plays since the seventies and only came to moviemaking when I basically realized that I needed some money to pay the rent. I... →
If you put someone in a room with no script to direct, they're just going to sit there. Writing scripts is the execution for a show. Then the... →
Playwriting is the last great bastion of the individual writer. It's exciting precisely because it's where the money isn't. Money goes to... →
When I visited Ireland with my father and heard the people on the farm talking, I couldn't believe the gift of language they had. I felt very... →
You have to live in order to have something to write about - you get caught up in moviemaking and celebrities and money, and it's very... →
Trying to lead an interesting life, a fruitful life, is a big challenge.
I became a playwright and screenwriter. Italian-Americans were my particular specialty. I liked the way they talked. There was something free in it.
I did 'Doubt' as a film, a play and an opera.
John Patrick Shanley (born October 3, 1950) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American playwright, an Oscar winning screenwriter, and a theatre and film director.