Question 1

True or false: Cassavetes often bankrolled his own films by acting in mainstream movies.

Accepted Answer

True. He used his Hollywood actor paychecks, like from 'Rosemary's Baby', to fund his personal, low-budget directorial projects.

Question 2

True or false: He was a pioneer of the American independent film movement in the 1960s.

Accepted Answer

True. Cassavetes self-financed 'Shadows' (1959) and rejected studio control, laying groundwork for indie auteurs like Scorsese.

Question 3

True or false: Cassavetes' final film 'Love Streams' was a big-budget Hollywood production.

Accepted Answer

False. Like most of his work, it was independently made on a modest budget, premiering at the Berlin Film Festival.

Question 4

True or false: His film 'Faces' was entirely improvised by the cast with no script.

Accepted Answer

False. Though it felt spontaneous, Cassavetes wrote a detailed script; he just encouraged naturalistic performances within it.

Question 5

True or false: He taught acting at the Actors Studio in New York for over a decade.

Accepted Answer

True. Cassavetes was a devoted teacher at the Actors Studio, influencing method acting alongside his filmmaking career.

Question 6

True or false: John Cassavetes was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, not Best Director.

Accepted Answer

True. He earned a Best Supporting Actor nod for 'The Dirty Dozen' (1967), but never a directing nomination despite his iconic indie work.

Question 7

True or false: Cassavetes directed his wife Gena Rowlands in every one of his films.

Accepted Answer

False. She starred in many, like 'A Woman Under the Influence', but not in his debut 'Shadows' or 'The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'.

Question 8

True or false: Cassavetes never won a major film festival award for his directing.

Accepted Answer

False. He won the Venice Film Festival Critics' Prize for 'Faces' and the Golden Lion for 'Gloria' (1980).

John Cassavetes Trivia Questions