▶ "When my writing really started to take off was when I made a decision that I would write only what I wanted to write, and if 10 people wanted to hear it, that's fine."; "When I got to Broadway, I conducted five Broadway shows."; "There is no seam between my songs and myself-they really are me. It's not like I'm performing; I'm just singing stuff that I really believe."; "The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations."; "Songwriting is the most terrifying thing to me, because you are really laying your heart out there."; …"My first career was as a coach and a teacher."; "My career keeps shifting; I keep doing the next thing and it keeps growing."; "I've written several deeply personal songs this year, which I really love. Some of them came out of intense sadness. This has been an extremely difficult year for me."; "I've been doing my big theater projects, which take years, and writing a song here and there."; "I've been doing a lot of studying singing, and I'm thinking of recording an album containing all my old war horses and putting out a songbook at the same time."; "It's an interesting line that I walk. The AIDS crisis has done a lot for my songs and made them proliferate, and my songs have contributed a lot to that cause as well."; "It sometimes feels like I'm not doing anything."; "In the music industry, we value large success. I realized that while I would like that, that it's not what my writing is about. And if I start making it about that, it becomes impure."; "I'm trying to have everything that I put into the world be something that makes a difference in the way I want to make a difference."; "I'm not totally altruistic. I've always had great career ambitions. But it has to come out in an organic way. If you push yourself out beyond where you are supposed to be, there's this pressure."; "I'm not comfortable singing in front of people yet. That's going to take another 100 performances."; "I write and direct the Duke University Children's Hospital Benefit every year."; "As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do."; "Directing is the ultimate way to bring together all the art forms I've been involved with over the years."; "What good is a friend if you can't make an enemy of him?"; "I've often wondered about people that come to the profession late in life. I've wanted to be an actor since the first grade. I watched a play being performed by the third grade class, and it was... magic."; "Film is fragmented and gets into lots of other people's hands. There are a lot of pleasures that theatre gives me. You get to perform uninterrupted."; "I'm guess I'm up to about 70% of normal, which is a real relief. My doctor gave me clearance to go out in public again, so I've been able to go to the store and help out a little bit around the house."; "I constantly try to reinvent my sensibilities and my ideas. I enjoy some of the satisfaction that I get when I feel good about what I've done. But the process is quite lonely and quite painful."; "I have never been in a natural place and felt that it was a waste of time. I never have. And it's a relief. If I'm walking around a desert or whatever, every second is worthwhile."; "Louis B. Mayer once looked at me and said, 'You will never get the girl at the end'. So I worked on my acting."; "A lot of times black actors get stuck in a box. They're up against a lot of limitations for the kind of films that they get approached about. It's easy to get stuck in a box and just be approached about nothing but urban films."; "I've been number two in films for donkey's years."; "I do like any kind of project that has both comedy and drama in it because in life you don't have one day where everything is funny then the next day everything is dramatic."; "He's not a child but he's childlike, he's not a grown up, he's not a kid, maybe he sounds like an elf on helium, we'll play with it."; "We were learning together. We'd go to various clinics and try to learn as much as possible."; "If you didn't join for the girls, choose another profession."; "Here's one thing I can't understand: people who are friends with their exes."; "We're all born bald, baby."; "I'm not a leading guy."; "I would not have so many scripts being driven by demographics. The play's the thing - not the 18-35 year old male age group."; "I'm a method actor."; "I did study the art of being a barber because I wanted to figure out what my routine would be. Do you start in the front or back? Top or bottom? Swivel the chair or walk around? What I did discover is there's no such thing as the perfect haircut!"; "I never worked in a coffee shop and I don't drink coffee, so I never thought I would become a coffee pusher on TV."; "I'm not going to be able to play it like somebody else."; "Good guy' or 'bad guy', hero or anti hero; doesn't matter to me, what role I play, only the character have something magical."; "I do not regret the things I've done, but those I did not do."; "Even though these days I'm very selective about what roles I want to do, I will do Stargate anytime they call."; "I really, really thought that it was a no-brainer in terms of being a hit. And so it does surprise that that hasn't been the manifested reception of it so far."; "I had to overcome the name Rock. If I'd been as hip then as I am now, I would have never consented to be named Rock."; "I'm never a person who likes anything I've done. It's just the way it is. Twenty years later, I can look at something I did, and I'm still thinking, 'You know, that could have been better if you had done it this way or that way."; "I'm getting paid to do what I got in trouble for in the 7th grade. I absolutely love what I do and thank my lucky stars for twenty-five years of full-time employment in this business."; "It's hard to get everybody to recycle paper and plastic, let alone."; "About 30 million people see me every week - I'm a happy man."; "Everybody gets to a stage when it's time to move on. I was bored, and the band wasn't going anywhere, so I left. I did a couple of shows on Broadway and some other things. I was busy. I just wasn't making records."; "I didn't set out to make this kind of picture. It just came my way. But its been going on for me for 16 years now and its wonderful for an actor to work consistently. There seems to be an insatiable audience for this type of film."; "California is an island, and New York's an island. Maybe it's time for me to change islands."; "Also, from a technical point of view, as you're standing in front of a microphone all day, it's quite a good idea that I should play a laid back sort of character because if he was too frenetic, I'd be exhausted by lunch!"; "I choose to be more prepared than I'm expected to be."; "I've been blessed by doing classic plays on Broadway, which was one of my great dreams forever."; "My sister used to say I had a frail chest and she 'd beat me up all the time."; "A brick layer, lays bricks... I'm an Actor, that's what I do."; "I make a film like I cook for friends. I hope they like it, but if they don't, I'm prepared to enjoy it all by myself."; "That's all folks!"; "You amaze me. You're 229 years old and that's what you think is funny."; "I wasn't athletic. I played baseball, but I was terrible."; "I don't have a lot of respect for talent. Talent is genetic. It's what you do with it that counts."; "I never wanted to be a film director but after this experience I really loved it. I would love to do more documentaries but it's difficult to find backing for them."; "Let's not get too precious about it: actors are not heart surgeons or brain surgeons. We are just entertaining people."; "But I'm an actor and I like to just keep working."; "Doing nothing is very hard to do... you never know when you're finished."; "I'm a Bristol person too, I lived in Bristol during the war."; "I really wouldn't want to live in America. I found New York claustrophobic and dirty. I missed England when I was there, simple things like smells and the British sense of humor."; "I would love to have a part opposite a great actor - like, say, Pacino or De Niro or Hoffman. And to work with a top director. That's my dream."; "Acting is the most fun. I like to do it and it's great that I can still do that, but you know, you don't really have a lot of control over things, so it's real hit or miss."; "I also find it interesting that a lot of people in their 30s are not married and don't have kids. There are a lot of people in this age bracket that are out there dating and trying to find love. And I never thought that at my age I would be."; "I'd like to think there's still a lot for me to do, you know?"; "I knew when I grew up, I always wanted to be a liar, and if you're in television, you're lying because you're just pretending to be yourself much like I'm doing now."; "I've never considered myself to be working for a living; I've enjoyed myself for a living instead."; "Acting is a win-win situation. There is no risk involved. That's why I get tired of hearing actors who try to make out that there's a downside to it. Fame is an odd thing. It bugs you a little bit, but it's really not bad."; "Here's to our wives and sweethearts - may they never meet."; "Did Mad freakin' Max just call me irritating?"; "At one point in college I was so shy that I'd drop out of a class if asked to speak in front of other people."; "I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."; "The reason we're getting bombed is 'cause we were on one side, and we're gonna remain on that side. We can't waver because these are our enemies right now. I'm sorry. I'm gonna say it out loud. The Arabs, that's right, are our enemies. That's right."; "I like to sing. I write music. Country songs. You have to if you're in Nashville. It's part of the lease. You sign a lease that says, I will write country songs and pay my rent on time."; "Believe it or not, I don't own a TV. Crazy huh? I'm not a big movie-goer either. I just feel like I'm watching work. I am always outside and couldn't care less about what's on TV these days."; "I think, as I've gotten older I have realized what a huge privilege it is to even be in this business. I, more than ever, love what I do."; "I never said, 'I'm going to be a big star.' I said, 'I'm going to be a good actor.' And that took the pressure off."; "I think it's great now that we seem to be in an era where it's OK to be gay and I think that the society in North America has had more of a problem with it than any other society."; "I can't tell you too much about it because I'm not even meant to tell you that I'm in it. In fact, I might never work again now that I've been talking to you. I'm not in it for very long, let's put it that way."; "Wilder touches all the bases... in some kind of shorthand way. Now that's art."; "Boy, if Garth Ennis had created a religion, I would sure like to be a part of that. It just makes sense, the way he tackles things in it. It's really heavy stuff and it's incredibly well written."; "I look at what I've gone through in my career and I really shouldn't be talking to you now. I should be dead ten times over."; "The most important thing in the face is the eyes, and if you can make the eyes talk, you're halfway there."; "I don't mind playing absolute bastards... I just don't want to play the grouch."; "I don't think I'll ever escape the fact that I don't belong anywhere in particular. I've often dreamed about going back to Nigeria, but that's a very romantic notion. It's a hideous country to go to in reality."; "All my life, I've never been able to get enough airplanes. This will keep me flying every day."; "I challenge myself everywhere, onstage, on the golf course. Hey, isn't that the point of it all? To keep getting better? Otherwise why do it?"; "Knock the 't' off the 'can't'"; "But when it became an international hoopla where careers lived and died on whether or not you did or didn't get an Oscar, then it got out of hand."; "I don't watch television. I'm not a TV guy."; "Fellow made me a $10 bet I couldn't quit, and I haven't had a drink since. At the time I needed the $10."; "But when we have families, when we have children, this gives us a purpose for being, to protect our children, to avoid going to jail because if I'm in jail, who looks after my children, who's there for my wife?"; "But I was ready for it and I knew I could do it. I've just turned 40, I have a son and I feel more settled and driven than ever. I think my 40s will be my most prolific time. It's a very rare life you get to lead as a sitcom guy."; "I think I've matured to a great extent. I think that I want different things now. That it's not about the celebrity status that you receive because you're doing the next hot movie. It's about doing good work."; "I almost forgot what it's like to be proud of my government."; "I've had many happy love affairs."; "I suffer from Irish-Catholic guilt. Guilt is a good reality check. It keeps that 'do what makes you happy' thing in check."; "I hope that 9/11 has grouped us as one, and in doing so it has united us. Perhaps as a unit we can help each other get ahead, survive and succeed in this free world. And hey guys, let's not forget out manners!!"; "That Bears quarterback is no good. He's washed up. He's 30."; "It's great to be in a film that's able to have people really want to become socially conscious, to walk out of the theatre and want to do something."; "I wanted him to love me, and I'm quite sure that he didn't."; "The best thing about switching from being an actor to being a director is that you don't have to shave or hold your stomach in anymore."; "Life too is precious to waste - to spend on anything but the best."; "Acting will always be my first passion, it's what I live to do and I hope to be lucky enough to do it the rest of my life."; "The next movie I do is not going to be in school."; "Final Destination was the closest thing I've done to a teen movie but it certainly had an edge to it."; "Actors never retire, they just get less and less work."; "It's a job and we're going to work together for six months, so let's have a good time."; "Nobody bats 500. We all make mistakes."; "A single prop that does not look real to an audience can louse you up. The same is true of the smallest flaw in setting up the motivation in a story line."; "Antwone's story was a story of hope and that's what appealed to me. I needed hope myself at that time. I think all actors give up at some time and think they're never going to make it."; "When we realize we can make a buck cleaning up the environment, it will be done!"; "Business has to change the way it does business, or we will make no significant changes in the way we relate to the earth."; "I can't hit a ball more than 200 yards. I have no butt. You need a butt if you're going to hit a golf ball."; "Independent films in this country are in the same position. Miramax and Fine Line are not independent - they're with Disney! Come on. Or they're with Warner Brothers. They're all with somebody."; "Changes have taken place since year one. When Caruso left, that was a big change. We've been able to adapt nicely. It's given us new opportunities for different characters and story lines."; "I let things roll right off me. I don't stay mad long."; "I do have to say that I think that President Obama is the greatest President in the history of all of our Presidents, and that he can do no wrong in my book. So how's that for prejudice on the Democratic side?"; "I am still seeking to become firmly established as an actor."; "I don't believe in careers. I believe in work. I'm not interested in some 'big picture that would be really good for me'."; "And I can't wait to see where the road leads from here."; "I think you have to find the humanity in the character and then the deterioration is a part of the process - the journey of the character. It's like playing King Lear. You can start off as a nice old man who finishes up crazy."; "And it was only released in London last week, so when I go back to England Monday or whatever, I am expecting heaps of adulation. I'm hoping there is. If that doesn't happen I will be disappointed."; "I would never have discovered alcohol."; "Film is our literature, so we should tell stories that are apropos of our culture, in that we can learn something about ourselves."; "I have no detectable hair style."; "The most important thing is story-telling. It's as singular and old-fashioned as that."; "A job is a very healthy thing to do."; "When I entered college, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. My advisor happened to be from the theater department, and he encouraged me to take some classes there, which I did."; "All I could think of was we were about to start filming for the last final weeks of the TV show and here I am in the hospital, so I missed the final weeks, and a couple days later, sore stomach and all I got on the horse we started filming."; "Can I tell you how strange it is to look in your rearview mirror and see guys in cars tailing you?"; "Actually I'm not that involved in the fan site."; "There are a couple of roles I haven't played that I want to. I would love to play Shiloh."; "A lot affects the outcome. It boils down to scheduling and the commitment of the network."; "Going to war was the only unselfish thing I have ever done for humanity."; "As a student in London, I had seen so many shows, so many plays and had seen so many greats of the day."; "But so far as countries are concerned, I don't go to a place to see what's there, but who is there."; "Charlie's not your conventional mathematician... we sexed him up a little bit."; "I'd really love to play a real-life country and western singer."; "Alzheimer's is a devastating disease. It was painful for me and my family to watch my grandfather deteriorate. We must find a cure for this horrible disease."; "Before long, I'll have my own channel - I'll be like Barney."; "It's that event that's the beginning of the avalanche of this play. The first loose rock."; "You're raising a kid and you give it food and shelter and, most importantly, you give it the feeling that it's special. I think people react to celebrities like that - I mean, they treat celebrities like children."; "Anxiety is part of creativity, the need to get something out, the need to be rid of something or to get in touch with something within."; "The best thing about me is there are no skeletons."; "As for Tenacious D, of course it could work as a full length movie; all it requires is a great writer and great director with an ability to think outside of conventional film comedy."; "I'm not comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler - because George Bush, for one thing, is not as smart as Adolf Hitler."; "For me to go back and to play for audiences some of whom have been following me for thirty years and some who have found me in the last five or six years, that's really an interesting thing. I have an audience that goes from kids to seventy year olds."; "I went from a guy, kind of a working actor, a supporting player, to magazine covers and being offered the studio pictures really quickly. Nobody was comfortable with it. I wasn't really comfortable with it."; "Why would you be afraid of death? It would be an inconvenience. I have a lot of undone things and it's bound to get in the way. But, no, it doesn't scare me at all."; "I'm a Beethoven freak. I listen to him all the time."; "I see L.A. as a beautiful blonde with dirty underwear."; "The first horror film I remember seeing in the theatre was Halloween and from the first scene when the kid puts on the mask and it is his POV, I was hooked."; "I hooked up everybody in Sidney, including one guy who was blind."; "All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others."; "I dated a lot of girls all through high school, and in college I dated a young lady for about eight months."; "I am really into '70s music, like The Rolling Stones, The Doors and what not."; "I wasn't born a fool. It took work to get this way."; "But rarely have I made choices that made me feel I was really compromising what I believe."; "What Tim does is, he calls me and sends me the script. And then he sends me a drawing, an illustration of his image of me as the character. It's so great."; "I developed that for a long time. I also developed 'Sugar Sweet Science' at New Line and that didn't happen. That was a boxing movie. And between all that there were a couple of other things."; "As it has been told to me, my Dad had some kind of deal with Dick Clark. But when we got here, that fell through. So we were out here with no job, no furniture, no food."; "Fans are really important for me. And if they take pains to write me, it's the minimum that I answer myself."; "Sorry I had to be so nasty to you Janina, at the end of a scene."; "I have done a lot of things outside of Science Fiction, but there has been an almost disproportionate amount of that genre in my body of work. I don't know what to make of it."; "Any voices or fantasies, he lives with. Those are his everyday life things."; "I tell people, if you really want me to look that good, why don't you cough up about $2 million more and hire Alec or Billy? If you want me to do it, this is what you get."; "I love being a part of Aqua Teen."; "All people are half actors."; "I was very happily married and never broke my vows."; "The nice thing is that, at least in Los Angeles, I'm known as a character actor and I do auditions for other things besides just cartoon shows."; "After years of doing it, you learn the difference between your ego and your opinion. When you're married you have to cut through that."; "Besides, I have a sister who's straight. And I want her to know that I love her and support her."; "My daddy used to say that I was too big to ride and too little to hitch a wagon - no good for a damn thing."; "Well Sid Pollack was... He was I would say probably, probably the most influential on me."; "And it just made me realize again because I have known it for some time, that you never get comfortable in this. No matter who you are. No matter who... how successful you are."; "Every group has its idiosyncrasies, but at a certain point we all are human."; "Acting is the most brotherly and sisterly profession in the world."; "Without a plan, there's no attack. Without attack, no victory."; "Are you casting asparagus on my cooking?"; "But there's a difference between having artistic interests and being psychotic. That's more than a fine line of differentiation, and I do see that a bit too much."; "I lost my parents when I was fairly young."; "I have a stepladder. It's a very nice stepladder but it's sad that I never knew my real ladder."; "It would be far to general a statement to try and describe the daily life of an actor in Hollywood, but I am quite certain that cappucinos have something to do with it."; "Art is about expressing the true nature of the human spirit in whatever way one wishes to express it. If it is honest, it is beautiful. If it is not honest, it is obvious."; "Everybody at school knew who I was because I'm just a really friendly person."; "I have to say, though, it's a little strange doing both because Durant is very straight and stern and austere."; "So now it is time to disassemble the parts of the jigsaw puzzle or to piece another one together, for I find that, having come to the end of my story, my life is just beginning."; "After my mother died, I found, a little book of hers which recorded everything I had ever done, how I had done it, and how proud she was of her son Conrad."; "I played trombone for 10 minutes, and then I was in an accordion band in school for even less."; "And if that isn't the truth, it would be a lie."; "When it comes down to it, I just want to work."; "My looks aren't something that come dazzlingly through in everything I do. I can be made to look one way or the other fairly easily... I am still not recognised on the street that much."
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