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You know, the truth is that us actors would all like to believe we re-invent the wheel, every time we play a character. But, we're human beings and our instruments are not violins, they are our bodies and our consciousness and our collective life experience.

John C. Reilly

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John C. Reilly
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: May 24
Actor
Character Actor
Film Actor
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Singer
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Voice Actor
Chicago
Illinois
John Christopher Reilly
Believe
Experience
Collectives
Would
Truth
Collective
Time
Character
Wheels
Life
Body
Bodies
Like
Human
Instruments
Violins
Humans
Beings
Violin
Play
Consciousness
Wheel
Every
Actors
Invent

More quotes by John C. Reilly

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I end up improvising in almost everything to some degree, 'cause it's often necessary on movies. The script is one thing, and it's this kind of theory of what you're going to do, and then you get there on the day and you realize, Oh, the script is not appropriate to this room, the door's over here.
John C. Reilly
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I was thinking maybe about being a lawyer. I realized I was interested in becoming a priest at one point. I was just interested in stuff where I could do something I really believed in. And then, I realized if I become an actor, I don't have to choose. I get to do everything. It's worked out so far. But what I really want to do is direct.
John C. Reilly
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For a while I had a blues band in L.A., but I realized I was too optimistic to play the blues. I did not have the misery in my heart that the blues required.
John C. Reilly
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I would say whisky or pills. Not both because that can have disastrous consequences.
John C. Reilly
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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.
John C. Reilly
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I don't know how to be like a Bill Murray or a Will Ferrell, these guys who know how to make a line funny just by, I don't know, some extra-sense perception. I only know character and emotion and real acting that's all I know how to do.
John C. Reilly
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I was never a very dependable employee for anything. Perfect for the actor's life!
John C. Reilly
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I'm bored by repeating myself, and I would imagine that an audience would be bored by me repeating myself.
John C. Reilly
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God forbid you got seasick because there was no option to go back. So that really did force us to be a group.
John C. Reilly
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Most boys' first hero is their father. That was definitely true of my dad. He was a proud Irish American and he taught me a lot about ethics and responsibility. He also introduced me to a lot of wonderful folk music.
John C. Reilly
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Actually, acting turned out to be the perfect job for me, because I had a lot of different interests. I thought about being a priest at one point. I thought about being a teacher. I thought about being a lawyer. But I think acting is probably the best job for me.
John C. Reilly
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I don't know who I am, to tell you the truth.
John C. Reilly
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If I'm committed to something really stupid, then I'm in a comedy.
John C. Reilly
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A lot of people that make films say, 'We need this kind of character. Who's done it before? Get them to do it again.' That is exactly what actors are pushing against. It's kind of a cliche to talk about being stereotyped in that way, but it happens.
John C. Reilly
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I'm dating myself by saying this, but I was the test audience for 'Space Invaders.' I remember when that was the first game that wasn't a pinball game. I spent a lot of money on 'Space Invaders,' in the form of quarters, of course.
John C. Reilly
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The less people know about me in reality, the more they can accept of me as a character.
John C. Reilly
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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.
John C. Reilly
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One of the reasons people find me a believable actor is that I don't seem like one of the gods from Olympus. I seem like someone who was lucky enough to be let into Olympus.
John C. Reilly
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Once you become tagged as anything, it becomes difficult to shake it, because the less imaginative people in the business want you to do what worked for the last guy. That's always been something I've had to deal with.
John C. Reilly
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I always say it takes as much preparation and thought to do a small part as a leading part. In some ways, leads are easier because you have the luxury of time to discover the character.
John C. Reilly