I was a very good baseball player and football player as a kid.
— John Malkovich
I only have two rules for my newly born daughter: she will dress well and never have sex.
You have to do things people see or you don't get to do anything.
Some directors expect you to do everything; write, be producer, psychiatrist. Some just want you to die in a tragic accident during the shooting so they can get the insurance.
It's not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others.
I'm supposed to be a pretty good theater actor.
I wouldn't say anything I ever did in film would be something I'd use the word proud about. I've done better work in the theater.
I don't want to be boring. But that's not always easy.
Even if you do succeed most people wouldn't notice anyway.
I still have a temper, I suppose.
I wasn't really raised to be the type of person to have doubts.
You can't work in the movies. Movies are all about lighting. Very few filmmakers will concentrate on the story. You get very little rehearsal time, so anything you do onscreen is a kind of speed painting.
Of course it's trivial, but then most things are.
If you don't interfere with me, I'll always do something really good.
I'm more likely to lose my temper on a film set than almost anywhere. Often the level of idiocy is so exalted that it's impossible to comprehend.
I was a very good baseball and football player, but my father always told me I was much more interested in how I looked playing baseball or football than in actually playing. There's great truth in that.
I don't lose my temper very often now, and if I do, it's well deserved.
I wouldn't describe myself as lacking in confidence, but I would just say that - the ghosts you chase you never catch.
Where women are concerned, the rule is never to go out with anyone better dressed than you.
I don't think my parents know what I do.
There's a reason screens are only this thick.
My life before children I don't really remember. I've heard references to it, but I really don't remember.
I've permitted myself to learn and to fail with some regularity. And that is probably the one thing I was given, and that I'm still grateful for.
I'm more comfortable with whatever's wrong with me than my father was whenever he felt he failed or didn't measure up to the standard he set.
I haven't physically attacked anyone in a couple of years.
I can have incredible self-discipline. But see, I think it's obviously a form of stupidity.
