John C. Reilly Quotes

To me, it doesn't make any sense to pick your work based on the size of the budget of the movie.

One of the reasons people find me a believable actor is that I don't seem like one of the gods from Olympus. I seem like someone who was lucky enough to be let into Olympus.

If you're really being honest with yourself when you're acting, part of it is touching the real you. You can only separate yourself so much from the character. Those vulnerable moments do touch me.

Unless you do the same thing, it's tough for stereotypes to stick. That said, whatever you've done that's most popular at a given moment is what people think "you do."

I give as much as I can, and it's up to someone else to turn it into a movie. Good luck to you!

If I'm committed to something really stupid, then I'm in a comedy.

I try to take things that challenge me either physically or mentally, or I have to learn a new skill.

I view my strongest competition as myself. You're always trying to top yourself, rather than worrying about what other people are doing.

It's true that the skills required to be a conman are the same as those required for being an actor. Though those skills are in the service of something a bit more noble with acting, I hope.

I always say it takes as much preparation and thought to do a small part as a leading part. In some ways, leads are easier because you have the luxury of time to discover the character.

For a while I had a blues band in L.A., but I realized I was too optimistic to play the blues. I did not have the misery in my heart that the blues required.

I don't deliberately go into comedy or go into indies, but I do deliberately try to keep changing tact, because I think that is the key to longevity in a career.

Life is often confusing and sad, and I'm a big fan of the slap and the tickle, as they say.

The kind of über-objective is to make people laugh. You always have to have that in the back of your mind, "Eh, I've got to figure out a way to make this funny."

I'm bored by repeating myself, and I would imagine that an audience would be bored by me repeating myself.

I'm not a huge sports fan in general, I don't spend a lot of time watching other people do stuff. I tend to like to go out and do stuff myself.

Hollywood is an illusion. These intense workplaces, with very close relationships, a few months at a time - and then it ends.

A script is like a theory of a movie.

If people want to see me in comedies, that's fine with me.

I swear and it comes off a little angry, no matter how funny I'm trying to do it. If I use certain words with a certain intensity, it's like 'Whoa whoa whoa, buddy buddy!'

God forbid you got seasick because there was no option to go back. So that really did force us to be a group.

Animation is a great way to work. No early morning call times, no make-up chair. In live action ,you're always fighting the clock; the sun is always going down too soon.

I'm a big fan of not letting the audience of off the hook, as they say. I like it when things feel real, and that's oftentimes not comfortable.

Really if you look at my filmography, there's something for everyone!

I love to improvise, but I always thought "Man, it's like the final frontier for improvisational actors, to really go for something emotional, something that's not just chasing the laugh."

I think that's some of the stuff that we kind of joke on in the movie, this obsession; number one, winning is everything, number one, number one.

When I first joined SAG, there was another John Reilly. My dad was John Reilly, too, but growing up I was John John. Nobody in life calls me John C. It's more like, "Hey you, Step Brother!"

I do a lot of improvising on movies, actually.

One of the unique things is that whether we were out at sea or in the middle of the water tank, a lot of times you just couldn't leave. Especially when we were out at sea.

It's kind of liberating to be able to bring your own ideas to things, but it's also a lot of pressure, it's like screenwriting on your feet.

I don't mind doing scripted material. It's actually kind of a relief, because improvising is a little bit like screenwriting on your feet.

I think just getting a movie done is an accomplishment in itself.

Hey, I'm just trying to become the Michael Caine/Gene Hackman of my generation.

When I first joined SAG, there was another John Reilly. My dad was John Reilly, too, but growing up I was John John. Nobody in life calls me John C. It's more like, 'Hey you, Step Brother!'