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'North by Northwest' took two and a half to three months to film. When I look back, I realise I wasn't intimidated by Hitchcock and Cary Grant. They were so accepting of me.
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I had hair down to my shoulders, a beard and mustache. I was crude and rude.
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I've always been interested in science fiction.
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Jimmy Dean was my best friend.
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I'm certainly not going to play any of Matt Damon's roles in the future. But he will eventually grow into mine, since he'll be around for a long time.
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There are not many A-list directors who get to make the movies they want to make. I know two: Woody Allen and Tim Burton. Two different textures, but both get to do what they want, and that's rare.
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When someone is there for you, has your back, that's somebody to pay attention to because that's a friend.
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Teachers are important in this world.
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In film, there are always things that could conceivably create artificiality in any performance.
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I could play a lot of things. And it's hard for people and logically hard and understandably hard for people to think of me for certain roles.
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My best stuff as a teacher was always to find the problems within each individual actor, and I'll suggest things that I know that particular actor will have difficulty with.
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Bad actors try to cry, and good actors try not to. Bad actors try to laugh, and good actors try not to.
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Every young actor wants to do 'Hamlet' on the West End. Why? Because they can bring something to it.
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Human beings are fascinating with religion and stories about not dying. Or dying and being brought back to life. I think it's just part of our make up.
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I'm usually cast by people who are oddly goofy.
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I love an actor who comes in, ready to work. It's like a good tennis player. They hit the ball where you don't expect it, and it's great.
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Ageism is something that does exist.
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I've worked with a lot of wooden actors in my day, but Pinocchio is the best.
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I've spent a lot of time playing roles that didn't really challenge me. I suppose every actor feels that way.
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Harry Dean Stanton, Anjelica Huston - a lot of people have studied with me. It's paying my dues.
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I don't like to do what I call 'the grunters' - a character who sits at a table and grunts and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down.
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With 'Avatar,' you're beginning to see the need for less and less actors and less of an appreciation for live acting.
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To really have craft, you must be able to repeat something as one has to do in films.
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Sergio Leone came to see me when I was doing 'Mission Impossible.' He wanted me to do 'A Fistful of Dollars.' I turned him down. I didn't want to get stuck as a stoic Western movie star.