Josh Pais Quotations

My father was born in Amsterdam in a highly religious family. He was in Amsterdam, and he went into hiding right near where Anne Frank was. He was a theoretical physicist and the last Jew to get a Ph.D. in Amsterdam.

I would say I'm quite happy in my life the majority of the time. Earlier in my life I was more questioning, overly trying to figure things out. I like this way much better.

I grew up in the East Village, in Alphabet City, when it was a very dangerous neighborhood. To survive there, I had to learn to be a little bit invisible.

Sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable to not do everything. That was my modus operandi for many years, but I just feel like I want to do challenging roles.

I live mostly in New York, but I teach in both New York and L.A.

I always worked pretty steadily. But maybe out of some kind of fear, I put the brakes on letting myself be as successful as I'd like to be. More and more, I've taken the brakes off and let whatever happens happen.

Growing up, I started to realize I was surrounded by people who were passionately alive. Seventh Street felt raw, but I found it incredibly theatrical.

Everyone feels a sense of ownership in creating a Lynn Shelton movie. Lynn chooses amazing people - including the crew. Every person there is committed to making the film the best it can be.

I love to collaborate! That's totally my preference. And I feel like everything I do ends up being that way.

I created an online program that has audio lessons and PDF worksheets and two hours of video. So it's like a course you can do at home. And people are loving it and getting jobs from it.