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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
Every
Actors
Invent
Believe
Experience
Collectives
Would
Truth
Collective
Time
Character
Wheels
Life
Body
Bodies
Like
Human
Instruments
Violins
Humans
Beings
Violin
Play
Consciousness
Wheel

More quotes by John C. Reilly

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An actor's life is like a series of - it's like the first day of school happening over and over again.
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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I do a lot of improvising on movies, actually.
John C. Reilly
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I try to take things that challenge me either physically or mentally, or I have to learn a new skill.
John C. Reilly
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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.
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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Why people pick me for the roles that they do is a bit of a mystery.
John C. Reilly
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The truth is that filmmaking is not really an actor's medium it's really a director's medium, so all I can really control is the character that I'm playing. So I try to look for characters that are interesting and engaging and different than what I've done before and hopefully it becomes a good movie.
John C. Reilly
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There is a level of fame that is really unmanageable. But most of the people who experience that level of fame are compensated in other ways. Private villas and chauffeured boats.
John C. Reilly
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I find people attractive for more subtle reasons than just the way they look.
John C. Reilly
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To me, it doesn't make any sense to pick your work based on the size of the budget of the movie.
John C. Reilly
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I was more like a middle child. My youngest brother was the baby, so he got all the attention that the baby gets. And my older brothers were getting into so much trouble that I was left in the middle, doing plays. I was up to no good, but my mother didn't know it!
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 had [at school] my own little posse of people that all felt weird together so it wasn't so lonely.
John C. Reilly
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Unless you do the same thing, it's tough for stereotypes to stick. That said, whatever you've done that's most popular at a given moment is what people think you do.
John C. Reilly
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I'm a big fan of not letting the audience of off the hook, as they say. I like it when things feel real, and that's oftentimes not comfortable.
John C. Reilly
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I'm a big fan of the 'Harry Potter' movies and 'The Lord of the Rings' films.
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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Hey, I'm just trying to become the Michael Caine/Gene Hackman of my generation.
John C. Reilly
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I hear actors complain about being stereotyped, and a lot of the time, you have yourself to blame. Just don't take the part if you feel like it's a stereotypical part for you. You have control over your life. We don't have the old studio system, where you have to do what they tell you.
John C. Reilly