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I aspired to be a writer and then I just started getting acting work. I really didn't have a direct goal, I just knew I wanted to be in this industry telling stories and doing this for a job. I thought my path was going to be as a writer, but I'm pretty happy doing it as an actor.

Jake M. Johnson

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More quotes by Jake M. Johnson

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If I took over the 'Glamour' offices for a day, I would put Joe Pesci on the cover. I would say 'We've got to change all these magazines a little bit. We have to bring out a different version of what is, like, cool. You know, what's winning. Joe Pesci, Burt Reynolds.
Jake M. Johnson
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I like pizza and I like cheeseburgers a lot and I like Chicago food a lot.
Jake M. Johnson
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If you have the ability to work with people smarter than you, always try to be the least smartest person in the room and surround yourself with talent, because iron sharpens iron.
Jake M. Johnson
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I had spent 10 days of my life digging for garbage.
Jake M. Johnson
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I think a lot of people are very good, but I don't think anybody could do my rhythm. I was thinking, If you want my rhythm - and when I was writing, I was writing them for myself - why am I watching another actor doing what I should be doing? It was just a really unpleasant experience.
Jake M. Johnson
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My big break was really Liz Meriwether saw me in a movie called 'Paper Heart' and really liked it, and then saw me in a movie called 'Ceremony' because she knew Max Winkler and said, 'I want you to be in 'No Strings Attached,' but you gotta audition for it.' From that it was easier for her to get me in 'New Girl.
Jake M. Johnson
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Problem is that my athletic abilities in my mind are greater than what my body can accomplish. And my level of fear and anxiety of getting injured is greater than my courage.
Jake M. Johnson
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I knew I wanted to be an actor for a long time, but I was based out of Chicago and then I went to New York and I did 'The Upright Citizens Brigade' out there. I had a two-man show with a guy named Oliver Ralli who's now in the band Pass Kontrol, which is a big band out of New York.
Jake M. Johnson
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You know, I'll tell you, nothing changed after 'No Strings' for me. A lot of people said, like, 'Your game will be different,' but it wasn't. It really wasn't.
Jake M. Johnson
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I did about 10-12 national commercials and then got one line parts in things like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and the show 'The Unit.' Got a little part in the movie 'Redbelt' by David Mamet and kept slowly grinding up and then started getting bigger parts in independents and getting noticed by Liz Meriwether.
Jake M. Johnson
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I always thought, if you're gonna do TV, you want to play a straight, solid, pillar-of-the-show kind of guy.
Jake M. Johnson
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The craziest thing about TV directing is I turned in a version, and then they made their final changes - so I don't know what they are. So I'm like, Ooo, I'm dying to see the final print.
Jake M. Johnson
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I'll be honest, I like shooting 'New Girl.' I like the people. The show is still new to me. I've never done TV like this before.
Jake M. Johnson
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I'm not a guy who sees the desire to transform with each part I'm not a piece of clay.
Jake M. Johnson
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I like dogs, but I have more respect for cats.
Jake M. Johnson
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I feel like L.A. is more of a showcase, and Chicago is a pure comedy scene where you're doing comedy for comedy. You're doing comedy actually for the audience that's there.
Jake M. Johnson
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In L.A., if you're in improv, and you're on those stages, all the big agents and managers and producers are watching those shows. They're not flying to Chicago to see the show. People are booking jobs off the stages in L.A. who aren't more talented than the guys in Chicago. But the most guys book out of L.A., and the second is New York.
Jake M. Johnson
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When somebody is doing something really funny, in real life and as a performer, my instinct is to join them.
Jake M. Johnson
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My dream career would be to be in things that have real heart and are telling real stories but while doing that, you're getting really big laughs. I don't necessarily love the straight crazy comedies. 'Caddyshack' is amazing, but there's not a lot of new 'Caddyshack's.
Jake M. Johnson
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We didn't make money but we never lost money. We'd sit around Times Square with fliers, walk around the Village and try and get people to come. Now you'd just tweet it, but that was the beginning of emails, or the beginning of me doing emails - I'm sure there were people in 1986 who were doing emails.
Jake M. Johnson