Is Keitel a remarkably generous advocate for young talent, or just an avid script reader with a nose for rare talent? In an interview with Moviemaker’s Timothy Rhys, Keitel explained, “[T]he first-time director experience we’re talking about we must remember comes as a result of me reading a text, or hearing an idea. Usually, in reading that text or hearing that idea I will learn something about the quality of the person.”
Rhys astutely observed that Keitel tends to seek out writer-directors, to which Keitel replied:
“I think it’s been the case every time I’ve done it. But he would not have to be the writer. What I’m saying is you meet the person, you get a feeling about the person. It’s not just willy-nilly, every first-time director is so wonderful. Or that every experienced director is so wonderful. What I’m saying is in my experience, I read the text.”
