If people ask me, ‘For you, what is your most important film?’ I have a feeling that they all sort of want me to answer with one of the Bergman films. But I cannot choose. – Max von Sydow
When I was brought up in Sweden, there was a great opportunity for young people to learn how to act in our municipal theaters with their small companies. You would be under contract for eight months and have the summer free to take other opportunities. – Max von Sydow
New York is a fascinating city. I think it’s a very inspiring city, but it’s overpowering when you get older. It tires me now. But it’s wonderful for young people – very inspiring and full of surprises and full of ideas. – Max von Sydow
I would love to do parts I have never done before, but unfortunately, if you have had success in a particular type of character, the casting agents think, ‘Oh! We’ll have something exactly like that.’ It’s very boring. – Max von Sydow
Bergman has a very special eye for people. His background taught him to listen and to feel. – Max von Sydow
Movies give me an opportunity to go places. I’m not only a Swede but an American, not just a man of my time, but I’ve been living 2,000 years ago-and not just in a new country, America, but in the Holy Land, too. – Max von Sydow
We should look back now and then. Our politicians should look back every now and then. – Max von Sydow
When I know what the character I’m supposed to play wants in general terms, and when I know what did the other characters want to do, that’s when all these wills collide and the emotions show up. – Max von Sydow
Ingmar Bergman had a great sense of humor, and he had a very special, characteristic laugh that you always recognized – if he went to watch a theater show, ‘Ah! He is here tonight.’ – Max von Sydow
My father was a professor of folklore, and my mother was a teacher until she was married. I had a good relationship with them, and the only argument we had was when I went to university and wanted to go into the theater instead of studying to be a lawyer. – Max von Sydow
It often disturbs me, when I see a film set in a historical time, that the people are too modern. – Max von Sydow
Playing Christ, I began to feel shut away from the world. A newspaper became one of my biggest luxuries. I noticed that some of my close friends began treating me with reverence. – Max von Sydow
If Jesus came back today, and saw what was going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up. – Max von Sydow
The idea of working with Steven Spielberg was very attractive. He’s such a master. He knows the language of the camera and of filmmaking, which gives him a great freedom. – Max von Sydow
I remember those days with Bergman with great nostalgia. We were aware that the films were going to be quite important, and the work felt meaningful. – Max von Sydow
Hiroshima has become a metaphor not just for nuclear war but for war and destruction and violence toward civilians. It’s not just the idea we should not use nuclear arms. We should not start another war because it’s madness. – Max von Sydow
Mr. Bergman was a man of great working discipline. He forced everyone to concentrate when it was important. No disturbing noise during rehearsal. A code of silence. – Max von Sydow
Mr. Bergman had a great imagination and saw the possibilities within every one of his actors, and he gave us great challenges. It was very inspiring. – Max von Sydow
Only very rarely are foreigners or first-generation immigrants allowed to be nice people in American films. Those with an accent are bad guys. – Max von Sydow