Jeff Daniels Quotes
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I know there are people, if I go into a market or a city for the first time, there are people that are there that just want to see the famous person, or the guy from 'Dumb and Dumber' or whatever movie they liked. And that's fine, it gets them in the door, but then it's my job to give them something different.
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I was haunted by trainers going "Up, up, up, get up." You find yourself picking your head up and then realizing, They aren't talking to me.
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Every actor just wants good writing.
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As an actor, you're always at the service of somebody else's vision. In a play, it's more of the director's vision, and he or she's got their hands on you all the way up to opening night, and if it's a film, there are even more people.
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Stars don't want to have flaws. Stars like to be likable.
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Working with Jim Carrey is an absolute gas. I have never laughed so hard for so long. Had he been on-board for the sequel of Dumb & Dumber, I would've jumped on, with no hesitation.
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There is no best anything in art.
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Give me good writing, and I'll play it all day.
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Meryl Streep's brilliant, just brilliant. I've been fortunate to do two movies with Meryl. And for an actor to go moment to moment like she does, there's no one better. And she dances between moments. Each take is different because she's riding instincts, she's riding impulses. And she trusts that.
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There are so many projects that you go into hoping the story works, and here comes a new third act and that kind of thing.
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You see a lot of these movies that are really just 90-minute video games. The effects are incredible. I get it: There's an art to that, terrific. I'm not interested in it, but there's an art to that I suppose.
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I'm the guy to call. Look at the resume. I have kids of my own. I have dogs.
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I think it's a style of acting that you trust. You trust the instincts.
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I think the American electorate should work a little harder at getting informed. That includes hearing, truly listening, to what the other side is saying. Whether you're left or right.
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I went to Walter Reed hospital a couple of times to visit wounded soldiers, kids with no legs and one arm. You start to question some things.
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I never said, 'I'm going to be a big star.' I said, 'I'm going to be a good actor.' And that took the pressure off.
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Regardless of the fact that in this country, certainly in the arts, we treat comedy as a second-class citizen, I've never thought of it that way. I've always thought it to be important. The last time I looked, the Greeks were holding up two masks. I've always thought of it not only as having equal value, but as the craft of it, being funny.
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I just never did buy this idea that you have to live in Los Angeles to be an actor. I didn't see that as a requirement in my job description.
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I love the theater, but if I had to choose, I would choose a film at this time in my life. Something meaty, to sink my teeth into.
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We're all capable of anything as human beings. Any emotion, any action. We really are.
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On indies it's hard to do, but in rehearsals, you make mistakes in rehearsal. It's really hard rehearsing a play or what rehearsal you get on any movie. That's where you get to make your mistakes, and you make big ones. So when you shoot [the movie] or you finally get the play in shape and do it, the mistakes are out of the way. If you're not afraid to make mistakes, then there is no writer's block or actor's block.
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There is no best anything in art. Phillip [Hoffman] isn't better than Heath [Ledger]; Joaquin [Phoenix] isn't better than David [Strathairn] or Terence [Howard]. They aren't better than me. We all do different things. It's more of a celebration of a lot of great work than to give the gold to somebody. The underappreciated factor certainly has gone away.
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And that's one thing that helps me is I learn it blandly, vanilla, then I don't try to act it too soon because you start to act it, and you kind of go away from what the next sentence is, what the next paragraph is. So get it down so it kind of can - it's in there so you can then, as I call it, dance on top of it.
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There's not a single job in this town. There's nothin', nada, zip. Unless you wanna workforty hours a week.
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You know, its really strange now with the Internet, with everyone having an unsolicited, anonymous opinion.
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I would love to [do theater], but there are go-to girls for theater. I am learning that, upon moving to New York and inquiring. There are go-to girls that will get the role any day of the week. It's true. Some people won't even let me audition.
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I never starved. And you know, whatever talent I have, I've relied on that, versus image or star. I have just said, 'Hire me if you want somebody good.' I tried to be as good as I could be every time out, and that's kind of bridged the decades.
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Are we just pretending to be unhappy so that we can add drama to our lives, so that we seem more substantial?
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I never starved. And you know, whatever talent I have, I've relied on that, versus image or star.
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I learned a long time ago that the show you're going to see isn't the one you have in your head. As soon as you understand that, you're going to enjoy it a lot more.
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