William H. Macy Quotes

It's hard on an actor when you have to do a scene 45 times and you know damn well that three of the angles a director is shooting will never make it into the movie.

I'm not religious. It's an issue, 'cause I've got two little kids, and I feel you can't grow up without knowledge of religion.

Stephen King writes a lot of things that are really charming and quirky, and that are more ironic than horror.

I have been working out for 30 years, staying in shape in the dream that someday I would get to play a sex scene. Finally I get one, and they cut it.

I don't know if it's fair to say that it's a bad time for movies. It seems to me that throughout the entire history of filmmaking, every year there have been about two really wonderful movies, about 10 others that are pretty good, and a whole pile of garbage.

One's complete sentences are attempts, as often as not, to complete an incomplete self with words.

Many times, I like to read the script before I even know who they want me to play, so I can read it and really enjoy it as an audience member. I think that's given me the ability to ferret out the really special scripts from all the rest.

Before I made it big I worked as a dishwasher, washing dishes in this place called Dishwasher House where people could just come in and do whatever they wanted to the dishes and we had to clean them with our hands till they bled. A lot of struggling actors worked there-Downey Jr., Joaquin Phoenix, Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans-and we actually all kind of wish we still did.

So many actors spend so much energy trying to remember the lines. It's so foolish. Guys are the worst.

I feel very secure about the role of the actor in the future. They need us, because stories are about people.

I loved Batman, don't get me wrong, but that kind of mindless violence is not good for young children.

Nobody became an actor because he had a good childhood.

You can skim those stage directions and go right to the dialogue. You can almost read the movie in the same amount of time it will take you to see the movie.

Ninety percent of the preparation we do as actors is just jive. It doesn't do anything.

I am against censorship in any form. I think anybody should be able to make any movie he or she wants and let the public decide. If it's disgusting and they don't want to see it, they won't go. I believe in the audience.

Directors work 10 times harder than anyone else. Get paid a quarter.

The only people who do plays in LA are people who can't get jobs in TV shows.

I'm a firm believer that character is highly overrated. Character is a trick that we do with the audience's collusion.

The Spirit Awards are great too, they'll say anything because they're not televised. Another great drinking night.

What I've discovered is, really, acting is acting is acting. It's all the same. Seventy-five percent of the skills are the same in both media.

As an actor, early on, you learn that the audience is never wrong. And if you think they are wrong, you need to find a different way to make a living. Collectively the audience is smarter than you will ever, ever be.

Women, in order to recharge their batteries, gather in groups. They can recharge their batteries with their sisters. I tend to recharge my batteries in solitude, therefore the motorcycle trips. I need to be alone. As a matter of fact, I have to be careful. I could turn into a hermit.

I got an agent. He said, what do you wanna do, and I said, I want an Oscar nomination. That's your job, that's what I'm paying you for. And I got it.

I'm drawn to a lot of first-time directors. One of the great common denominators in these small independent films is that there's a person, or two people, who have an absolutely monomaniacal passion to get these films made. That's what makes them happen. Sometimes, it takes years and years to finally get it done, but by never backing down, by never giving up, they get these films to the screen by hook or by crook.

You have to do whatever you can to limit the things that could make you feel insecure.

It was my first impulse, but I chose to play the priest as a true believer who was an absolute man of faith that absolutely supports the church.

I feel like a lot of the young actors that are just coming up are really good. I think directors are directing better.

Oh yeah, that's the Holy Grail, Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp, he's the real deal, isn't he? He doesn't get the girl, and he doesn't care.

I've always felt that, no matter where you go, people are just people.

I think acting is getting better and better.

Directing is a huge amount of work with very little payoff, and a quarter of the money, and nine times more time spent.

Anyway, I try to be a good guy. I try to tell the truth, but I'm not religious.

It’s a shame...you just don’t see young people doing anything outside these days.

It started with the Godfather, this operatic violence. I don't know.

I was a dog in a past life. Really. I'll be walking down the street and dogs will do a sort of double take. Like, Hey, I know him.

The roughest part is showing up. Once you throw yourself into the scene, it's just great fun to let it all go and not be self-conscious, and stop questioning whether you're sufficient.

I don't watch rushes. My whole thing is to try to stay in the moment with the other actor, and to let it all hang. I'm not sure I'm right on that, though.

A good actor's director, first of all, is prepared, so there's not an exorbitant amount of wasted footage.

We thought sex was free. Sex is not free. There's a price to be paid emotionally, physically, even legally. Sex isn't a casual thing. It's a huge thing.

We all want to be 20 again and have that first sense of love.

If I like the story and it's well written, and it's a character I want to play and they'll pay me, then I decide to do it.

Just learn the whole script before you start shooting. That makes shooting a joy. Even if they rewrite, it's easy.

Another mistake a director can make is not to be prepared, so you get there on the day to shoot the scene, and they don't know how it should be blocked, and they're not clear on how they want to do a scene.

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. It's not right. Someone's gotta say it. They said it. I applaud them.

I've always felt it's the directors purview to say what; it's the actor's purview to say how. It's not good for an actor to have the big picture in mind - it bollocks you up. An actor's purview is the tiny little... We measure our performance in seconds.

I do want to do TV, but I'm looking to be a creator, writer, and producer, and perhaps I could be a recurring character. Do 10 shows a year, something like that.

I love directors who talk action as opposed to emotion.

I introduced myself to Scorsese and I said, "If you need someone to do craft services, I'm there."