Life is a roller coaster. There are ups; there are downs. There are hills; there are valleys, peaks, and so on.
Great teachers are the ones who inspire you.
I don't like to sound immodest, but I believe in what I can do. Sometimes it's been frustrating because I haven't gotten to bat; if you're on the bench, and an unimaginative person doesn't see you as right for a certain role, you don't get the chance to hit the home run.
I did 12 shows in 13 weeks at a summer theater in Maine where we were paid $35 a week. After taxes and $25 for room and board, I had enough money for a pack of cigarettes and a bowl of lobster bisque.
How a character hides his feelings tells us something about him.
There are not many A-list directors who get to make the movies they want to make. I know two: Woody Allen and Tim Burton. Two different textures, but both get to do what they want, and that's rare.
Subliminally, I had always wanted to act. Although I had only performed in a couple of plays, I was serious about it and was subsequently trained by people like Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan.
Ageism is something that does exist.
Jimmy Dean was my best friend.
You can have immediate regrets, but if you look at stuff and say, 'Things happen for a reason', there's a fatalistic thing about it. Something will happen that will justify it in some way.
I've worked with a lot of wooden actors in my day, but Pinocchio is the best.
I don't know anybody who's any good who isn't nuts.
I had hair down to my shoulders, a beard and mustache. I was crude and rude.
The real good comedians, like Chaplin, would make you laugh and a second later, cry.
I've got two daughters, and it's impossible for me to say one of them is a favorite.
I did a picture called 'Lovely, Still' with Ellen Burstyn, We screened it to the AARP people in Las Vegas, 2000 of them. We got a standing ovation from people who couldn't stand.
Harry Dean Stanton, Anjelica Huston - a lot of people have studied with me. It's paying my dues.
Bad guys don't think they're bad guys. Hitler probably thought he was a wonderful guy doing some wonderful and righteous work for Germany.
A lot of the time with an independent production, you go onto the set, and you rehearse it in front of the crew, and at that point, the cinematographer takes over. You start accommodating the camera instead of the camera accommodating you.
I'm usually cast by people who are oddly goofy.
