William H. Macy Quotes
-
I'm not much of a preparer. I think sometimes as an actor you need to go out and learn some skills, but in terms of preparation for understanding the character, it's all on the page, and if it's not on the page, you're in trouble.
-
I really love hanging out on the set, and I love the life, and all of that. But I don't think I could stick with this profession if it weren't for those 15 minutes a day when I get to act. That's the part I love. For some strange reason, it's the time that I'm the least self-conscious in my whole life.
-
The emotions will take care of themselves. You don't have to prod them along. As a matter of fact, you get in trouble when you prod them along.
-
One of the things I did early on in film was over-enunciate and talk too loud.
-
I love women. I always have. I'm not pretending that I understand them, but I just love women. I love being in their presence and I love everything about them.
-
There are statistics out that say 20 year olds, 18 years olds think about sex 90 percent of the time. They only don't think about sex when they're eating, and that's rare.
-
Nothing else counts except what you want.
-
Nobody became an actor because he had a good childhood.
-
The actor has the advantage - or the liability - of knowing, "It's going to be my face up there on the frickin' screen, so I better keep my wits about me. Nobody's going to care that I was bad because I was not happy. They're only going to know I'm bad."
-
I think what all actors share is that, somewhere down in your solar plexus, there's this fear that you're not going to be able to come up with the goods, that this is the one movie where you're going to look like a fool, and they should have cast someone else. And you feel ugly, and you've got three chins, and you've gained too much weight, and you're losing your hair, and there are so many better actors who could do this. But if you've got chops, what you realize is that everybody feels that way, so just show up and do the job.
-
I am against censorship in any form. I think anybody should be able to make any movie he or she wants and let the public decide. If it's disgusting and they don't want to see it, they won't go. I believe in the audience.
-
Everyone hooks up with George Clooney. He's a genuinely cool guy. He's using his powers for good.
-
It sure is boring to be around people who are in character all the time. I always find it's closer to mental illness than acting excellence.
-
I do want to do TV, but I'm looking to be a creator, writer, and producer, and perhaps I could be a recurring character. Do 10 shows a year, something like that.
-
We, in America, are so screwed up when it comes to sex. That's all we can see.
-
The reason they came up with the ratings board is that there are a lot of movies out there, and parents need some guidance. Not only for the kids, but for adults, as well. If you don't like to see a certain kind of film, there should be some rating, so that you know what you're getting into. But the present system doesn't work.
-
I was a dog in a past life. Really. I'll be walking down the street and dogs will do a sort of double take. Like, Hey, I know him.
-
All modesty aside, I think I'm good at reading scripts. The way I read a script is as fast as I can, all in one sitting, and I don't read many of the stage directions. I only read enough stage directions to let me know where I am, because they're always so verbose and mostly horseshit. So I only read the dialogue, which allows me to see the movie in my mind's eye in real time.
-
If I had my choice, I would do the same little independent films, but they would have $100 million budgets, so I could get paid a fortune and hang out in a huge trailer.
-
At the end of the day, what actors really want to do is act a lot and not wait around in the trailer.
-
I've written a lot of scripts that someone else directed, and it's absolutely vital that, if I'm gonna act in it, then I have to take off the writer hat and let the director direct.
-
It's not good for people to have the safety net too low... People can take care of themselves better than we allow them to.
-
Ninety percent of the preparation we do as actors is just jive. It doesn't do anything.
-
Making a mistake means overshooting a scene, shooting too many takes, for instance. Long after you've got it, you just keep shooting.