John C. Reilly Quotes

This is real human drama, we're not creating some amusement park ride for the summer. Even though the movie is really exciting to watch, it's got a real pathos behind it.

A lot of times, good improv is when both people, or however many people are in the scene, really have no idea what the next thing you're going to say is.

I was never a very dependable employee for anything. Perfect for the actor's life!

There is something about the water - that solitary kind of peaceful feeling. You're on earth but not quite.

Being unprepared makes me nervous. I'm old-fashioned show folk.

Just look around, in life, there's people who want to date people who look like themselves, and there are people who are just looking for a good fit. And a lot of times, a good fit is someone different than yourself. I'm not one to get too hung up on outside appearances. I find people attractive for more subtle reasons than just the way they look.

I don't know who I am, to tell you the truth.

I find people attractive for more subtle reasons than just the way they look.

Surprising people is the key to career longevity for someone like me.

I love that people can't place me. They don't know my name. That's 'mission accomplished' in my world.

I like people who are able to keep pushing themselves and challenging themselves even after great success.

Acting's all about the confidence you exude, especially on film. I mean, nervousness isn't attractive in anyone, but a film camera will seek it out and punish you.

Honestly, to tell you the truth, being trapped in any video game sounds like a living nightmare to me. In most video games, the point is it's a fight for survival, so I think it would be a terrifying place to live.

You were there all day long, 12 hours a day. So there was none of this, 'I'm going back to my trailer, my trailer's bigger than your trailer,' that kind of Hollywood nonsense.

I just like surprising people. I never want to get to a place where people see that I am in a movie and they go see the movie and they expect a certain performance one way or the other. That is just inherently boring to me.

The way you get through having a shitty job is to laugh a lot and goof around.

People say, 'Don't you get tired of people coming up to you all the time?' But what's wrong with strangers saying they love you?

I was a founding member of the 'Dungeons and Dragons' club at my high school. I was in chorus, I was in swing choir. I was an outcast but I was an outcast among a group of outcasts.

I would consider directing. I think directing myself would be tough, but I'm definitely interested in directing. I might start off directing a play before I move to a film.

I like working with people I know. It saves a lot of awkward conversations and getting-to-know-you kinda moments. You trust the people if you know them.

I'm a big fan of the 'Harry Potter' movies and 'The Lord of the Rings' films.

[Country Music] is the final destination for many punk rockers [...] Rockabilly is the mid-point and then [they] end up at Country [...] There's purity to that music and I think that appeals to a lot of punk rock people - the precision, the purity, and the directness of Country Music.

Improvisation, the main thing is it teaches you to be in the moment and present in the moment and be reactive and proactive for what's going on. Someone gives you something - a lot of actors are a little shut off, so they're just doing, "This is my character, these are my lines, I'm going to just send it to you then you send whatever you're sending." Improvisation teaches you to really be listening.

I actually envy actors who have a persona: 'This is the way I am. This is the part I play.' And do it over and over and over. To me, that's a lot easier than trying to reinvent yourself every six months.

Despite not looking like a matinee idol, I feel like I have a lot to give. I've never had any trouble with women. People are always surprised with the romantic aspect of my movies.

I'm alienated from this world because its weird and I don't want to be a part of it. I want to be part of the people that are more imaginative and crazy.

I'm aware of how lucky I am. Being able to make pretty good money, and get to do a lot of fun work, and at the same time I'm not besieged by photographers.

I've worked with a lot of great directors and often times they solicit your ideas.

A lot of times, mainstream critics are much tougher on small, independent movies because they can be.

Movies are this thing that came into my life, and it still feels pretend in some way. I kind of do this thing, and I never really accepted this idea that I'm a film actor. That's what I do. I feel like I'm a theater actor that started doing films. Most people have never seen me in a play. They're fun, though.

Whenever I work on something, I try and throw everything I have at it. Then if the director finds it useful they use it, and if not, they ignore it!

I had [at school] my own little posse of people that all felt weird together so it wasn't so lonely.

I would say whisky or pills. Not both because that can have disastrous consequences.

I'm much more character based. I try to just be really committed to what I'm doing.

Why people pick me for the roles that they do is a bit of a mystery.

If you get made fun for the way you look, then maybe wearing the same thing every day is the best way to protect yourself.

It's thought of as an eccentric thing for an actor to really try to maintain quality control through the whole career. Most people think, 'You just work. You just keep working.' And in some ways I wish I could be a guy who's just a workhorse.

I grew up listening to a lot of player-piano music in my house and a lot of old Tin Pan Alley songs and American standards. My dad listened to a lot of traditional Irish music and I grew up doing musical theater. So most of the music I was exposed to as a kid was pre-rock n' roll.

I considered a lot of different jobs as a kid. I thought about becoming a priest or a lawyer. My father had a big linen-supply business and I considered working for him. What dawned on me was: 'If I'm an actor, I get to do the fun parts of every job!' Without having to go to four years of law school.

I don't really get off on the anonymous love of strangers, which I think a lot of actors do. They're lacking something in their own personal lives, so they want the adoration of autographs and all that stuff.

I always felt really guilty if I spent too much time playing video games. It's a colossal waste of time. And I can't say it's a very satisfying feeling at the end of the day, if you've spent eight hours playing a video game; you just end up feeling kind of spent, and used.

An actor's life is like a series of - it's like the first day of school happening over and over again.

I like when people know exactly, have a good sense of themselves, and know exactly what's good for them, I admire that, but I don't have anywhere near that kind of perspective on my own.

The truth is, when you're at the track, it was an interesting thing about stock car racing as a sport, is you almost get more out of it watching it on TV.

Somehow that doesn't feel like a natural human thing to do, to go to those dark places, you have to kind of force yourself to do that. And comedy, it's like you're excited to get there in the morning every day.

There's so much joy in doing comedy work, and that's one of the reasons I like to do it - because it's just a hilarious day at work.

My family are all storytellers, and I think I inherited a lot more of that gene than other people in my family. I guess I was fun to have around.

I like how pure the expression is in music. You can go straight to the heart of an audience rather than through their brain.

I like being employed, you know. That's my favorite kind of acting.

I kinda taught myself how to play guitar, and I still play to this day. It's become a pretty big part of my life.