It's always the guys who have absolutely nothing to give that start screaming and yelling about their makeup and trailers. It's a diversion so you don't pay attention to them, because they stink!
— James Caan
My big thing is that I always get typecast.
It's hard to tell writers, especially in movies, that words are secondary. Behavior is important.
A lot of young actors look up to me, and I wouldn't trade that for any money in the world. I don't want to lose their respect and be a hypocrite.
People say, 'Gee, you do a lot of mafia movies.' I think I've done two, out of 60.
I have nothing against these big CGI movies, but there are not enough of the other ones - the ones with stories about character that have a beginning, a middle and an end. I said that to a couple of studio heads and they said, 'That's novel.'
I'm an ultra-conservative.
My acting technique is to look up at God just before the camera rolls and say, 'Give me a break.'
I remember at 16 years old, growing up in Queens, we were punks, but hey, when we went to the theater, we wore a shirt and tie! Similarly, I believe that to keep movie theaters in existence, they're gonna have to make 'em an event, have a couch, a table and drinks or something. Otherwise, there's no reason to get out of your bed!
I lost my passion for work. No, that's a negative statement. I just had a bigger passion for something else, for my son, and growing up with him.
What I do quite honestly and seriously and not in any way being humble is not as important as what the garbage collector does. People make actors important.
There's nothing more boring than actors talking about acting.
To get over my divorce, I got a prescription to live at the Playboy Mansion for a while.
I always thought of myself as some sort of athlete until I started playing golf a couple years ago.
You're the only one who's closing your eyes at night. There's no one else who can do it for you.
Some guys say beauty is only skin deep. But when you walk into a party, you don't see somebody's brain. The initial contact has to be the sniffing.
One night I went over to get some dope from some Hollywood tough guy. After I left, my son Scott, who was only fifteen, went over with a baseball bat to kill him. I was laughing out of one eye and crying out of the other. I thought, Who am I kidding?
The most talented people that I've met in this business are always the nicest.
I didn't have parents I could take a million dollars from. We were a lower-class family.
It's always more interesting to play the villain.
I am no longer willing to take parts in films and/or television shows which detract from the 50 years I have spent building my reputation.
I was very fortunate in the '70s to work with the best actors, the best directors, the best cinematographers.
My kid was a great baseball player. I thought I had it made. Front-row seats at Yankee Stadium. Then he turned sixteen and wanted to be a rapper.
No matter what heights you achieve, even if you're Brad Pitt, the slide is coming, sure as death and taxes.
I really believe that you grow up a certain way in New York. There's a New York morality, a sense of loyalty. You know how to win and lose. There's a thousand kids outside, you know who to push and who not to push. There's a sixth sense you develop just because it's New York.
Saving a letter from an old friend doesn't exist anymore. Everything is texted or emailed.
I went to a shrink once, but I caught him going to a fortune-teller so I quit.
Sure, I want to be the best actor in the world. But my life is my family, my son, my friends. I don't know how anyone can find fault with that.
People wonder why first-time directors can make a brilliant picture, then suck on the second one. It's because they're a little terrified the first time. So they listen to all the experts around them.
I've been lucky. The critics never went out of their way to single me out for doing bad work.
Showing up every day isn't enough. There are a lot of guys who show up every day who shouldn't have showed up at all.
What's the difference between sex and love? I have four wives and five kids. I apparently don't know the difference.
You have to be very careful when you let someone win.
I play a guy who believes he's a king. He's the most common man in the world; in fact his family, like his suits, are just make-up. It's about dysfunctional people and dysfunctional relationships.
I turned down 'Cuckoo's Nest' four times before Jack got it.
I know what winning and losing is when you gamble.
I rodeo-ed for nine years. That's my other life.
I loved 'Funny Lady' for whatever reason. People say they didn't know I could sing and dance. Well, nobody ever asks me - it's always, 'Punch this guy.'
I've never been difficult to anybody or with anybody on a picture. Especially when you're in that nice status of hierarchy of actors and actresses who get to approve directors. Because once you make that choice, it's my belief that the director's boss.
I'm sort of a Walter Mitty. I got fewer brain cells than most people, so when I got friendly with cowboys, I started rodeoing. When I was calf-roping, there was something about the dirt that made me feel clean.
I never did anything else. In college I switched majors every two weeks, and acting was the only thing that held my interest.
Unless I love something or hate it, I don't want to deal with it.
People are always backing up when I'm just going to shake their hands.
I won't mention names, but in my career, the most talented people invariably are the easiest and nicest to get along with.
I never saw my dad cry. My son saw me cry. My dad never told me he loved me, and consequently I told Scott I loved him every other minute. The point is, I'll make less mistakes than my dad, my sons hopefully will make less mistakes than me, and their sons will make less mistakes than their dads.
I don't think silicone makes a girl good or bad.
My least favorite phrase in the English language is 'I don't care.'
There are a lot of guys in Hollywood who clap you on the back just a little too hard.
Actors have bodyguards and entourages not because anybody wants to hurt them - who would want to hurt an actor? - but because they want to get recognized. God forbid someone doesn't recognize them.
There's a big difference between wanting to work and having to work. And I had to learn that the hard way. Now money is very important to me, because I ain't got it.
