Harvey Keitel Quotes

To create characters, one must build background. And one of the tools we use is improvisation.

That's like asking a cobbler if he's made too many pairs of shoes.

The way I see things, the way I see life, I see it as a struggle. And there's a great deal of reward I have gained coming to that understanding - that existence is a struggle.

I believe every day when I wake up and go to bed and during my dreaming time there's some moment of truth that's in front of me that will always be in front of me until the end of days.

Everything is difficult, and everything worthwhile is difficult. A certain need, a need not unlike Mickey had: to know, to understand, and I had that need to understand and to know.

You didn't hear the angels singing. It was brought down to Mother Earth, which is where it should be. And that led me to a lot of other reading.

You're working on being a father, so that is something that when you experience it you'll understand the profundity of wanting to protect something dear to you.

What fascinated me mostly about Mickey Cohen was that he, in his later years, hired someone to help him to comprehend literature, to help him to read better, to understand words better.

They have equal weight and you do the same work you'd do if you were playing a dramatic role.

Uhm, I'm the one wanting the lessons! I don't want to say too much about it because I'd rather have you see the movie, but he's trying to find his music.

Then I heard this genius teacher Stella Adler - I recommend you read anything you might find about her and if you have anyone interested in theatre, you get them one of her books.

My advice to any actor who's playing, quote, unquote, "extra" to think of it more like Stanislavski did. It's not a small part. You are the lead in the movie, in your own movie.

But then again, you know, the pimp in TAXI DRIVER has this reason, given the environment he was living in.

He brought imagination to the story of the Creation.

It's always a pleasure to see John. I'm fond of telling people that when I was a young actor in NY and had no work ,no money, you know the story because you're heard it before.

Well, it's such an intricate, beautiful script about eight professional robbers pulling a heist, and it deals with elements of betrayal, trust, instinct, and need for relationships.

I don't think about those things, really. I work hard on everything I do. Everything is a struggle, everything is hard, everything is difficult.

That's sort of like what real life is like in Hollywood. You need stars to gain financing.

I mean, you work and you try and find the work that suits you the best and you enjoy the most.

So there's no such thing as one too many this, one too many that. I remember, you're reminding me of early in my career, somebody said to me: why are you taking so many roles as a policeman.

I was out to have a good time and have some fun. It's a fun script and fun people are in the movie.