I'm no different to anyone else; I want people to like me. I just don't particularly want them to understand me.
— Willem Dafoe
Let's hope I never end up on a deserted island, because I could never make a decision on which three CDs to take with me.
Any actor who tells you that he makes choices, absolutely, is wrong. You find work and work finds you.
One of the pleasures of being an actor is quite simply taking a walk in someone else's shoes. And when I look at the roles I've played, I'm kind of amazed at all the wonderful adventures I've had and the different things I've learned.
I'm one of those people who when I go over a bridge, I want to jump. It's just this intense tickle in the back of my throat. It's like I'm on the verge the whole time I'm walking over that bridge, and I'm not going to get a release until I jump.
The mask can be a limitation, but you just deal with it. You do get superhuman strength and pumpkin bombs and all this other stuff to express yourself with.'
Celebrity is okay as long as you know it's not about you.
There's a real wisdom to not saying a thing.
I don't think people want to see me as a regular guy; besides, I'm a regular guy in real life. I guess I just want to be reckless in my work.
I'll never be able to really see a film that I'm in.
Weirdness is not my game. I'm just a square boy from Wisconsin.
You have to lose yourself to find yourself.
Turn off the sound in a movie, and if you can tell what's going on, the movie should work.
All the time, as an actor, you want to be asking what's next and where things are going. If you're not asking those questions, you're not growing.
I wish to Christ I could make up a really great lie. Sometimes, after an interview, I say to myself, 'Man, you were so honest - can't you have some fun? Can't you do some really down and dirty lying?' But the puritan in me thinks that if I tell a lie, I'll be punished.
Film is fragmented and gets into lots of other people's hands. There are a lot of pleasures that theatre gives me. You get to perform uninterrupted.
The worst thing is to get involved with people who aren't passionate about what they're doing.
