What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.
Martin ShortI pretend I'm one of the royal family when I'm in a hotel and that the hotel belongs to me - it is a palace.
Martin ShortWhen you have to worry about paying the rent, you're never bored. You're just happy to have that job. But once you don't have to worry and reach the point where it's no longer about the money, you're able to look at other opportunities outside of your comfort zone.
Martin ShortAll the actor does is, he tries to get as many takes as he can out of the director that day. So he can walk away and say to himself, "Hey, it's in there. I'm not going to edit it. I'm not going to make those choices. If they want to blow it, it's fine. But I've done all I can." You're right. I'm always amazed when actors bash films as if those grips and that cinematographer didn't work hard enough.
Martin ShortThe thing in comedy is that once you start worrying about something not succeeding, you're frozen. There's no verdict on anything. You can make ยกThree Amigos!, and some people will at the time say, "Oh, that's too silly." Then five years later, silly is hip. Now it's considered art. I never comment on anything I do, because if I say anything negative about X film, or X TV show, or X project, people who saw it and loved it go, "Well, am I an idiot?"
Martin Short