I do voiceovers, but being on-camera and selling something? I wasn't really interested. And then I thought, well, wait a minute. Everybody's selling something. When you turn on the tube... And then if you go to Europe or Asia, everyone is selling something. All the guys that don't want to be seen selling something here are selling something there. So I thought what the hell?
John SlatteryYou put a movie star or a bunch of movie stars in a movie, it doesn't mean people are gonna go see it. It's been proven time and time again.
John SlatteryI've dyed my hair a million times and it looks terrible, always. It just looks fake. And it doesn't make me look that much younger.
John SlatteryI've done a lot of pilots. A lot of shows. You're young and you do a job just because you know someone gave you a job.
John SlatteryLet's face it, making movies is all risk. Most of the time, batting average-wise, the reward does not outweigh the risk.
John SlatteryMemories are just stories we tell ourselves about our past; and that's often why they don't match when we've shared the same experiences with someone.
John SlatteryWhen I first started, I was kind of surprised that anyone would ever hire me at all. So I took everything that I was offered.
John SlatteryWe all went through that teen phase of wearing that really soft fragrance. As I got older, I started loving men's fragrances and cologne. I was so attracted to men's cologne; I would spray it all over me.
John SlatteryI guess, you make a big studio film, you spend a lot of money on it and you hope people go see it. It's really risky.
John SlatteryA painting can't be everything. You have to stop, at some point. It has to be finished, if you want anyone to see it. Some people just continue to work on things, forever. I don't know which is better.
John SlatteryI'm proud of myself that I had the courage to experiment with crazy hairstyles and some fashion things.
John SlatteryI like to try the scene over and over, but given the confines of television, I don't have that option.
John SlatteryMy mom used to wear the fragrance Poison when I was younger, and I remember that scent and the purple bottle. That was my first [perfume] memory.
John SlatteryI think the moments that are difficult for anybody are when you see what your life could be, if only you had the courage to take the steps needed.
John SlatteryI was a horrible limo driver: I ran out of gas with passengers in the back and I used to get lost on a regular basis.
John SlatteryCharacters can become boring. That's what's tricky about television. It goes on and on - you're playing this same character for five seasons and it gets easy to fall into just walking on the set and assuming you know how to play a scene.
John SlatteryIf [being confident stems from] a self-esteem issue, it's important to embrace the things you might define as so-called imperfections - because something that you might call an imperfection, someone else might find so amazing and so beautiful. It's all in how you embrace yourself, your faults, and your mistakes in life. There's no better way to learn and become a better person than to go through those moments.
John SlatteryI've never directed anything before 'Mad Men,' so I don't feel I have any advice for the other directors.
John SlatteryI used to be more insecure about working, and I guess the older I get, the more rich my life becomes, I don't need to work as much as I used to. I mean, New York is a hard town to be in when you have nothing else to do besides show business. It's brutal, especially as an actor, because you sit around with this low - grade fever of anxiety, waiting for the phone to ring. Or waiting for something.
John Slattery