John C. Reilly Quotes

This is real human drama, we're not creating some amusement park ride for the summer. Even though the movie is really exciting to watch, it's got a real pathos behind it.

A lot of times, good improv is when both people, or however many people are in the scene, really have no idea what the next thing you're going to say is.

I was never a very dependable employee for anything. Perfect for the actor's life!

There is something about the water - that solitary kind of peaceful feeling. You're on earth but not quite.

Being unprepared makes me nervous. I'm old-fashioned show folk.

I don't know who I am, to tell you the truth.

I find people attractive for more subtle reasons than just the way they look.

I love that people can't place me. They don't know my name. That's 'mission accomplished' in my world.

I like people who are able to keep pushing themselves and challenging themselves even after great success.

Acting's all about the confidence you exude, especially on film. I mean, nervousness isn't attractive in anyone, but a film camera will seek it out and punish you.

Surprising people is the key to career longevity for someone like me.

I'm a big fan of the 'Harry Potter' movies and 'The Lord of the Rings' films.

I like working with people I know. It saves a lot of awkward conversations and getting-to-know-you kinda moments. You trust the people if you know them.

I would consider directing. I think directing myself would be tough, but I'm definitely interested in directing. I might start off directing a play before I move to a film.

People say, 'Don't you get tired of people coming up to you all the time?' But what's wrong with strangers saying they love you?

The way you get through having a shitty job is to laugh a lot and goof around.

I was a founding member of the 'Dungeons and Dragons' club at my high school. I was in chorus, I was in swing choir. I was an outcast but I was an outcast among a group of outcasts.

You were there all day long, 12 hours a day. So there was none of this, 'I'm going back to my trailer, my trailer's bigger than your trailer,' that kind of Hollywood nonsense.

Despite not looking like a matinee idol, I feel like I have a lot to give. I've never had any trouble with women. People are always surprised with the romantic aspect of my movies.

There's so much joy in doing comedy work, and that's one of the reasons I like to do it - because it's just a hilarious day at work.

I like being employed, you know. That's my favorite kind of acting.

An actor's life is like a series of - it's like the first day of school happening over and over again.

Actors in general are pretty good bullshit artists; we're good at just chewing the fat, interacting with people. So we're good ambassadors for movies.

A lot of times, mainstream critics are much tougher on small, independent movies because they can be.

The less people know about me in reality, the more they can accept of me as a character.

The truth is, when you're at the track, it was an interesting thing about stock car racing as a sport, is you almost get more out of it watching it on TV.

It's a mystery why certain people find certain things funny.

I like when people know exactly, have a good sense of themselves, and know exactly what's good for them, I admire that, but I don't have anywhere near that kind of perspective on my own.

I've worked with a lot of great directors and often times they solicit your ideas.

My family are all storytellers, and I think I inherited a lot more of that gene than other people in my family. I guess I was fun to have around.

I'm much more character based. I try to just be really committed to what I'm doing.

I'm aware of how lucky I am. Being able to make pretty good money, and get to do a lot of fun work, and at the same time I'm not besieged by photographers.

Why people pick me for the roles that they do is a bit of a mystery.

Whenever I work on something, I try and throw everything I have at it. Then if the director finds it useful they use it, and if not, they ignore it!

Young people can be annoying, let's face it. But they can also be really refreshing to be around and full of enthusiasm.

I'm alienated from this world because its weird and I don't want to be a part of it. I want to be part of the people that are more imaginative and crazy.

If you get made fun for the way you look, then maybe wearing the same thing every day is the best way to protect yourself.

I did a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, and his skill level was eons ahead of mine. It was really more like an abattoir - he just slaughtered my character over and over again.

When they're good, I like working with new actors.

I really enjoy my time off. If I'm going to go to work, it has to be something I really believe in, or else it's totally tedious.

There is a level of fame that is really unmanageable. But most of the people who experience that level of fame are compensated in other ways. Private villas and chauffeured boats.

I feel like a teenager myself, so I appreciate it when the kids think you're all right.

I had [at school] my own little posse of people that all felt weird together so it wasn't so lonely.

I would say whisky or pills. Not both because that can have disastrous consequences.

I like how pure the expression is in music. You can go straight to the heart of an audience rather than through their brain.

I kinda taught myself how to play guitar, and I still play to this day. It's become a pretty big part of my life.

I love card games, and I've always loved board games and stuff like that as a kid, and I think it's that part of your brain that's engaged in con movies. It's like this 'Who's outsmarting whom?'

I am one of those people who is not very patient in the makeup chair. I have been offered movies like 'Planet of the Apes' and stuff like 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas' and I turned them down.

I would love to do a western. I would love to play an explorer. That is always something that has really captured my imagination since I was a kid, like James Cook or Magellan or Earnest Shackleton.

I'm not of the manor born; I've never felt entitled in that way. I just came to Hollywood to be an actor. All that lifestyle stuff is something to be managed.