I'm a bit of a clotheshorse, and having a tailor-made suit is a big deal.
— Dennis Farina
I live my life. And the best place to do that is Chicago.
Maybe it's because I was too much reality, but I'm not interested in seeing too much reality anymore. I'd rather watch a Dean Martin concert and let the world go by.
I had seen 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and I thought that was a different kind of film than I'd seen before, with that kind of editing and slick camera movements.
Am I a good actor? I don't think about it. But I'm working on it.
If you did something, and it wasn't right, you definitely found out about it. And they were pretty smart people, both my parents, so you didn't get too much by them.
This face is nothing to brag about. I don't know what it is that these people see in my face.
I even played a part in 'Miami Vice.'
Most cop movies and TV shows are fantasies.
I just think 'Law & Order' is the gold standard. History is going to show that it's probably one of the best series of shows that has been on television.
I have no message or answers to social questions.
When I first got into acting, I never had any long-term goals, never had any plan. I just thought it would be a good way to make some extra money.
I realize that no one is going to come to me and ask me to be Julius Caesar or a romantic lead, but I think I'm a certain type of guy who looks a certain way, and that's just the reality of things.
One of the funny things in life to me is a guy who takes himself very seriously.
When I was younger, I watched all the detective shows.
I loved 'Buddy Faro.' I loved the whole idea.
I think there is something very nice about going to work to try to make people laugh.
This isn't the most handsome face in the world, and there are a lot of younger guys out there, but I keep hanging in there.
I like working. I like getting up every morning and going somewhere. Where I do it or what form doesn't matter.
Everybody wants to look in the mirror and see Cary Grant looking back at them, but that's just not the case.
I have - and you gotta believe this - hardly ever met anybody in Hollywood who's not nice. There are some people I don't like, but everybody has been very nice.
You really have to act on the force, too. You're involved in a hundred things a day, and you have to react in a hundred different ways, depending on what's going on. And you learn that as you go through your career, how you handle certain situations, interrogations, how you carry yourself. There's a kind of acting to it.
My parents, I don't know about 'strict,' but I would say they were fair and judicious, you know?
There's not too many offers that come my way about being in a musical.
The most credible police shows I've ever seen were 'Barney Miller' on TV and 'The French Connection' movie. They showed the tedious side of police work.
I really don't think there's such a thing as an ex-policeman.
I've been involved in some movies that I really thought were going to take off that didn't. And then I've thought, 'This movie's not going anywhere,' and it worked. The same thing with television shows.
We know television should educate and inform, and I believe it should entertain.
When I first started out acting, I didn't have anything to lose. I had another career. If I fell on my face, I could say, 'I'll see ya,' and go back to working.
In the kind of roles I do, you can do them and walk away from it and have a really nice time.
Sometimes you can take those dramatic roles and maybe interject a little humor into them, and I think the reverse also works.
My best year was probably 1948, and after that, it's been downhill for me.
My friends are still the guys I met 40 or 50 years ago.
Sometimes I do pinch myself about the life I've had.
People are always telling me to shut up about Chicago.
I've probably played more non-police roles than people realize.
You can't act for the editing. You have to leave that to him. So you just go in and do the scene the way you think is right or whatever you're directed to do, and leave the rest of that technical stuff up to the director.
Acting is a work in progress for me. I just try to keep my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open, especially with the people I've worked with.
I think my high-school acting career lasted a day.
It was a great time, and I liked the guys. I liked getting up every morning and being a cop.
I like being in the '60s.
Car chases usually don't involve major criminals - they're usually guys afraid of getting another traffic ticket.
My mother and sisters cooked Italian food, and I never heard of half of the dishes you see in these Italian restaurants. I just go in and order spaghetti.
I've worked on what I think are good things.
I'm very lucky. I'm the most fortunate guy that I know.
I've taken up golf... or golf has taken me up.
If I'm characterized as a character actor, that's fine with me. Whatever they want to call me is fine.
For some reason or another, 'Richard Diamond, Private Eye,' still sticks out in my mind. I don't think I particularly liked that show, but for some reason, he sticks in my mind.
I try to bring my own style to a role, but I can't change how people think of me.
I'm set in my own ways. I like to do the things I want to do when I want to do them.
