Kevin Kline Quotes

I think every American actor wants to be a movie star. But I never wanted to do stupid movies, I wanted to do films. I vowed I would never do a commercial, nor would I do a soap opera - both of which I did as soon as I left the Acting Company and was starving.

I think every American actor wants to be a movie star. But I never wanted to do stupid movies, I wanted to do films.

The worth of a life is not determined by a single failure or a solitary success.

I'm a real pushover for animals.

The technique's many benefits for actors include minimized tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation, and responsiveness, mind/body connection and about an inch and a half of additional height.

Hindsight. It's like foresight without a future.

I've got the Jewish guilt and the Irish shame and it's a hell of a job distinguishing which is which.

We're all animals, but we're a different sort of animal. Maybe they're better than us. They're more loyal. They're more pure. They're more simple. They're not neurotic. Well, there are some neurotic dogs.

Most of the comedies I've done have been rather farcical and extravagant.

But, I do think, on a very simplistic level, that we can project onto dogs because they are so innocent. They don't come with a lot of baggage.

I totally related to Cole Porter's magnetic pull to any piano that was in the room, which he was famous for doing, as was Gershwin. You couldn't drag them away from a piano.

Just because you're not sweating doesn't mean you're not putting in the work.

Don't kiss a man who hasn't shaved.

I see God as a song-and-dance man. If I had my way, he'd be able to carry a tune, too. Preferably, one of mine.

Dogs do have feelings. I gather.

Ambition without contribution is of no significance.

I see a steady downward slope toward oblivion over the next three years. I'm pessimistic. Everything that's happened to me so far has been kind of flukey. I went into Twentieth Century because I wanted to work for Hal Prince. The part was too small according to my agent. I had been doing only leading parts, and he thought I should continue that. But the part was enlarged in rehearsal: songs were added, and it became more physicalized and showy. Then I won awards and got attention.

People ask, 'What's the best role you've ever played?' The next one.

Nothing makes an actor feel freer and more inventive and more creative than being trusted.

Nobody sees the same movie. I'm sure there are people who saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and thought "Finally a gay movie about men who really care about each other. Thank God!" That's not what I saw necessarily but I don't think any two people see the same movie.

I've never felt completely satisfied with what I've done. I tend to see things too critically. I'm trying to get over that.

Some of my favorite characters that I've played have been very pompous because I love making fun of pompous people.

But you have to trust your instincts. Because you're not going to try it 20 different ways during rehearsal. You'll try it two or three different ways, maybe, but then you've got five other scenes you're shooting that day. You've got to keep going.

Lots of people fantasize about what it would be like if they were president... Most think they'd be decent and wouldn't be corrupted at all, that they'd remain true to themselves.

It never ceases to surprise me, the people I get to work with. I'm in a French film with Sandrine Bonnaire? I adore Sandrine Bonnaire. I'm doing a picture for Robert Redford? The Sundance Kid? I have to pinch myself sometimes.

You know, actors are fans, too. And talent is very attractive to me.

It was all completely incomprehensible to me. I was fearful of the language. You had to look up every third word.

Playing Shakespeare requires technique. You don't play a Bach toccata by getting in the mood.

I like variety, which is frustrating. But I've always been picky. I was afraid Pirates would be too much like Twentieth Century, broad comedy. But my agent talked me into it. I was spoiled by the range of a repertory theater.

I just don't think I'm a very good singer.

I never went to class. That the university graduated me at all is an indictment of our educational system.

When you have satire, it has to be real. No matter how outrageous the comedy becomes, you have to believe in the characters.

Well, the whole trick to doing an independent film, is to keep great pace and momentum. You're shooting maybe three times as many scenes in one day that you would on a big, luxurious budget on a luxurious schedule, and you try not to sacrifice quality for that. Things are just compressed, but essentially the same.

I had studied piano since I was 13, but I was surrounded by students who'd been playing since they were 5. I realized I was never going to be anything but mediocre.

I can play characters who sing, but I don't like singing in a nightclub or something. It's not my metier.

I've done a couple of movies for scale, and it's the only way to get a lot of these independent movies made. The actors negotiate deals where they're given just enough money to live on during the filming, but then they participate in the back-end. If the movie suddenly makes a gazillion dollars, we'll participate in that profit.

I have been in countries where I don't know a word of the language. I tried to practice my French as much as possible. I would talk with the crew. I always order in French, but then waiters respond in English. I hate that.