It seems to me that every step forward in my life has been one that brings me to a better understanding of this: that you do your thing every day the best that you can, and you approach any success at it with humility.
Val KilmerThere was no one around called 'Val' when I was young, so I wanted to be John or Bill. Now I like it.
Val KilmerI don't think of my life as a cliche, but I'm a cliche eccentric. Complete with a strange name - I mean, who's named Val? How many Vals do you know? I mean, really?
Val KilmerActing is not a science. Anybody who believes that their success exists in relation to their goals is deluding themselves; unless you think of a career in terms of financial goals. I have nothing against Tom Cruise, but he must have a large capacity to deal with the business side of movies.
Val KilmerI have two children and they're young yet but all of the children that I know really inspire me.
Val KilmerIt's the first time that I've ever had an art show based on a film, but it's a photography collage.
Val KilmerThere are only three reasons to do a movie: the cast, the director, the role. Like I say, you live in a minute of screen time, but to prepare for the minute takes much more than a day. You'd better be excited about what those moments are, even if they're the hardest moments. Or the smallest.
Val KilmerI've found that Hollywood's a really honest business. They don't pull any punches. They tell you exactly what you want-I want the fake breasts and the flat car and the big pool. You know, they're real up-front about it.
Val KilmerI learned a long time ago that place matters to me, on many levels, and maybe more than it should, but it is generally counter-productive for me to resist it.
Val KilmerAgain, in Wag the Dog, war has to be declared by an act of congress. But if you go to war, you don't have to declare war. You're just at war and we did that, which is not legal.
Val KilmerI'm not just an actor born in L.A. I was born in the Griffith Park Hospital. You can't get any more clichéd than that.
Val KilmerIt may or may not sound pretentious. But I`ve turned down, consciously and specifically, many jobs I knew would have been a pretty surefire way to go about making a lot of money, being recognized and gaining power in the industry.
Val KilmerA lot of old guys in movies are like cowboys - they talk like cowboys and they dress like cowboys.
Val KilmerYou just don't understand humility until you have children and get divorced. I was very hurt and very angry and so was she. But when kids are involved, you either become friends with respect or you become mortal enemies.
Val KilmerWarner Bros offered me the next Batman, and the only reason that I didn't do it was because of The Saint.
Val KilmerArt is a way to get strength from something that is life-affirming. It can be quite violent and still be life-affirming.
Val KilmerMark Twain was an artist working at the highest level. He wrote a book, his masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that put America on the world stage for literature. It's almost as if, if you start reading that book as a racist, you cannot finish it and still be a racist.
Val KilmerWhere [a]can you trust your own thoughts and your own intentions? Everywhere, hopefully, but it isn't always that easy. Sometimes, you have to help yourself along.
Val KilmerSometimes, I wonder what I'm doing back in Los Angeles, but when you look out there... How can you complain when you see a whale cresting, matter-of-factly, as you make your breakfast?
Val KilmerI think part of my reputation has to do with the difficult roles I've played. Actors do tend to get identified with their characters.
Val KilmerThere are some directors I should have worked with. I`d like to have worked with Robert Altman - I turned him down a couple of times when I was younger. My thing now is if it`s a good director I`ll never say no - I`m just gonna say yes from now on.
Val KilmerI respect people who can do both careers, like Will Smith and a couple of other people who have done it, but I just don't know when they sleep.
Val KilmerOne out of 100 citizens of the U.S. is going to prison, and it's not that the system is making criminals, it's that it's making criminals better criminals. We're breeding them like rats and it has to change.
Val KilmerI never had a business plan. I did, actually - I'm lying. My business plan was to get lucky, and I did; that was great. And then my second business plan was to get lucky again, and there, I faltered.
Val KilmerThe trick to being a good actor is getting so involved in your character that the camera disappears, the 50 bored guys eating doughnuts disappear, friends disappear. To get to that point when you don't have to think about it, you're just acting and reacting in those circumstances.
Val KilmerI fell in love with the land and with the very old fashioned idea of leaving a physical legacy for my children. A stunning place, with a magnificent forest of trees, and a magnificent river.
Val KilmerIt's the persona that makes you a leading actor. A leading actor has something extra that's fun to watch. But it isn't usually about acting.
Val KilmerIt's important to be yourself. What art does for everyone, helps you understand yourself and in a distilled way, whether it's a painting or a scene in acting or a joke. It distills something about everyday life that can be important to you.
Val KilmerDaryl Hannah likes to goof around with fashion, but she does have pretty impeccable taste.
Val KilmerIt`s probably fair to say I have taken myself too seriously on some jobs. I`m sure I`m more guilty of being difficult than I`d like to remember. I don`t regret my desires; I`ve regretted the way I would communicate my desires. Maybe I`ve lost a job because of some rumor, I doubt it. But nobody good that I`ve worked with has ever said anything negative about me, because we`ve never had a negative experience. By good, I mean directors who do their homework, people that are passionate, crazy, never sleep, and do like I do and just go after it.
Val KilmerMost films made about the future acquiesce toward death, and I don't want to be told how to define my future.
Val KilmerDoing my first movie, I realized I could get into real bad habits. If you're the star, all you have to do is show up, and 20 people say, 'Do you want anything? What is it? Let me get it for you.' Believe me, you get spoiled very quickly. I saw some of my contemporaries allow themselves to have that fame, thinking they could handle it. It messed them up.
Val Kilmer