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The Money I Earn From Films Means I Can Help The People I Want To Help - You Can Do A Lot Of Good If You Want To.
-Viggo Mortensen
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The Money I Earn

Viggo Mortensen
...
The Money I Earn From Films Means I Can Help The People I Want To Help - You Can Do A Lot Of Good If You Want To.

Understanding the Quote: "the money i earn from films means i can help the people..."

This quote by Viggo Mortensen reflects deeply on the theme of mean. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Mean, People, Want, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Viggo Mortensen interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Viggo Mortensen

Viggo Mortensen is celebrated for insightful thoughts on mean and people. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Mean
People
Want
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The Money I Earn From Films Means I Can Help The People I Want To Help - You Can Do A Lot Of Good If You Want To.
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When People Say That Entertainers Should "know Your Place," They Might As Well Say The Same Thing About Plumbers And Teachers And Cab Drivers. We All Should Be Able To Express Our Views.
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Nobody Really Knows Anybody Completely, Even If They've Been Married To 'em For 53 Years, You Know?
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You Know, 'viggo' Is A Pretty Dorky Name In Denmark. It's Like 'oswald' Or Something. It's A Very Old Scandinavian Name, At Least 1,000 Years Old.
Years
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If You Tell The Story Emotionally In A Truthful Way, Then You Start Naturally Looking At The Landscape And Thinking "wow, We Have To Watch Out."
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If I Can Get A Day To Myself, I Won't Answer The Phone, I'll Read Or Go For A Walk. Simple, Basic Things. People Think There's Always Time To Do That But There Isn't. Life Is Short.
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Be Kind. It's Worthwhile To Make An Effort To Learn About Other People And Figure Out What You Might Have In Common With Them. If You Allow Yourself To Be Somewhat Curious - And If You Get Into The Habit Of Doing That - It's The First Step To Being Open Minded And Realizing That Your Points Of View Aren't Totally Opposite.
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Some People Who Like Dogs Don't Like Cats, But I'm Not Like That.
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Perceval Press A Publishing House I Founded In 2002 And It's Still Going Strong. Strong For Us Means Not So Many Books Per Year, But Each One We Very Carefully Design And Print.
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I Think It's My Job To Like Any Character I Play - To Understand And Appreciate A Character, To Look At The World As Much As Possible From Their Point Of View. I Don't Look At It Just Technically: Learn The Lines, Figure Out What Gestures I Want To Bring And Play, And That's It. I Like To Learn As Much As I Can About The Person, And See What Happens.
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I'm Not Afraid Of Death, But I Resent It. I Think It's Unfair And Irritating. Every Time I See Something Beautiful, I Not Only Want To Return To It, But It Makes Me Want To See Other Beautiful Things. I Know I'm Not Going To Get To All The Places I Want To Go.
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People Like To Pigeonhole You. It's Easier.
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I'm Optimistic About People And About The Planet And About Nature. I Think It's Resilient, Like People Are.
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Photography, Painting Or Poetry - Those Are Just Extensions Of Me, How I Perceive Things; They Are My Way Of Communicating.
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I Don't Like The 'must', The 'always', And The 'never' Words. I Don't Like 'no' Either.
As Far As Money Goes, There's A Saying In Denmark: 'your Last Suit Doesn't Have Any Pockets.' You Can't Take It With You. You Can Make All The Money You Want, But Who Cares?
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I Don't Speak Up About Something Unless I Feel Strongly About It And Until I've Researched A Subject Extensively And Have An Informed Decision About It.
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You Can't Really Go Back To Where You Came From. I Don't Think Any Of Us Can.
Thinking
Every Year I Hear People Complain That The Quality Of Screenplays And Movies Is Declining. In My Opinion, The Vast Majority Of Scripts Written - As Well As Most Movies That Are Released - Are Not Very Original, Well-written, Or Interesting. It Has Always Been That Way, And I Think It Always Will Be.
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I Like A Twisted Sense Of Humour. On 'a History Of Violence,' David Cronenberg And I Would Be Doing The Grimmest Scenes And Laugh A Lot.
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I Think That Every Person Has Many, Many People Inside Of Them. We Change Our Personality Depending On Who We Are Talking To Or What Situation We Are In.
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If You Daren't Enter The Forest, Or Cannot Find It, Then Perhaps You Might Find One Tree, Or A Place Where A Tree Could Be, And Just Stop For A Quiet Moment To See What Happens.
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One Of The Most Effective Tools That The Cheney-bush Junta Has Used To Marginalize Dissenting Or Even Mildly Inquisitive American Citizens Has Been The Accusation Of Being Unpatriotic.
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Joseph Campbell Said The Privilege Of A Lifetime Is Being Yourself. That's His Feeling. And I Guess It's Mine Too.
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A Lot Of Times, Movies That Are In The Top 10 Lists Or Maybe Even Win Baftas Or Oscars, You Then Watch Them A Year Later And You Go, 'maybe It Wasn't So Great.'
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If There's One Thing I've Learned From Traveling, It's That It Is Definitely More Important How You Are Than Where You Are. You Can Say, 'oh, I Hate X City, I Hate That Country, Or I Prefer This City,' But It's A Little Bit Up To You To Find Some Kind Of Happiness.
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To Find A Good Story, You’re Generally Going To Find It In Independent Or Lower Budget Movies... I Wouldn’t Mind Doing A Big Budget Movie If It Had A Great Story.
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The First Decade Of Your Life Is Really Important; It's Formative.
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I Have A Publishing Company Of Books By Me And Books Of Others. It Drew People To Poetry Readings And Photo Exhibitions And Painting Exhibitions That I've Been Doing For Years Before That.
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I Mean, Any Movie Or Story That Makes You Accept And Be Grateful For Something About Your Life Is Doing Something Right.
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Because Of The Internet, Satellite Tv, And The Digital World, You Can Stay In Touch, You Can Learn About Other People From A Young Age.
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I Hate Divers, Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Who Might Be The Greatest Athlete In The Sport, But He's A Big Baby. If Things Are Going Well He's Great, But When Things Are Going Badly It's The Ref's Fault, It's His Teammates' Fault.
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Jung Viewed Freud As A Mentor, But He Never Wanted To Be Anybody's Disciple.
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Freud Was The Son Of A Jewish Merchant Who Had To Move His Whole Family To Vienna Because He Couldn't Get Work. He, As A Boy, Had To Watch His Father Be Mocked And Abused On The Street For Being Jewish... You Develop A Thick Skin And You Develop A Certain Kind Of Wit To Defend Yourself.
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With Few Exceptions, One Ought Always Do What One Is Afraid Of.
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I Campaigned For [dennis] Kucinich In 2008. I Continue To Be In Touch With Him And I Really Admire Him. I Think He's Very Brave And Honest - Unusually So For A U.s. Politician.
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Every Once In A While, Someone Would Call Me A Foreigner Or A Yankee, Or Whatever. In The United States, Someone Might Say Something, Like How Kids Do, To Point Out That You're Different. That Would Come As A Surprise To Me. As You Get Old, You Either Get Defensive About It Or You Accept It And You Reach Out, Because You Realize The World's Full Of People Like That.
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There Are People That Grandstand And Seem To Be Publicly Politically Engaged Because They Like The Attention, More Than Because They're Genuinely Concerned About The World. But I Don't Think That's The Majority.
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If You're Trying To Please Everyone, Then You're Not Going To Make Anything That Is Honestly Yours, I Don't Think, In The Long Run.
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It's Always Interesting To Play A Character That Obviously Has A Secret.
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When I Was 11, I Moved To The United States With My Two Brothers And My Mom. We Moved To Northern New York, Up Near The Canadian Border, From Argentina, And There Was Nobody There That Spoke Spanish, And Because There Was No Internet At The Time, Not Even Cable Tv Yet, I Lost The Connection With My Childhood Friends And The Culture I Had Been Brought Up With For My First Decade Completely.
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Normal
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If You're Not Optimistic On Some Level, Then You've Given Up.
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Looking At Acting, In The Movies Or The Theater, And The Way I Like To Look At It, It’s Just An Extension Of Childhood Play… Kids Play And Imagine In A Very Intense Fashion And They Don’t Need Any Director Telling Them “you Really Have To Believe In It.” They Believe In It Completely.
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Kids
I Prefer The Smaller Acting Than Big Histrionics. It's About Reacting And Looks, Which Is Often Underestimated.
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As A Kid I Read Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, And A Few Others. As An Adult Have Admired Leonardo Da Vinci's Drawings And Notebooks.
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A Little Recognition Is Not A Bad Thing Because It Means People Appreciate Your Work. The Only Problem Is When You Can't Walk Down The Street Or Have A Meal Without People Looking At You. I Want To Be The One Looking At People.
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Each Time I Make A Movie, It's Like A Paid Scholarship To A Different University Course.
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Ignorance Breeds Antipathy. Until I Got To Know How Computers Worked, I Didn't Want Anything To Do With Them. I Said, 'well, Why Do I Need Them? I Write Letters.' Which I Still Do.
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The Road Was A Movie That Has A Good Reputation, Even Though It Wasn't Released Very Well, But That's A Movie I'm Very Proud Of.
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Sometimes You Look At A Movie And You Can See That The Actor Or Actress Said, 'i'm Taking This Onboard Because I'm Making A Ton Of Money, And Not Because It's Going To Be Something Special.'
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I Don't Like People Who Get Into Fights About Football - Or Anything Else.
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I Think Maybe Because I Do Other Things And They Mean As Much To Me As Movie Acting, It Takes The Onus Off Me. It's Not The End Of The World If I Can't Get A Film Job, Or If A Movie Doesn't Turn Out Well - Even Though I Don't Like It When That Happens.
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It's True That I Have A Wide Range Of Interests. I Like To Write And Paint And Make Music And Go Walking On My Own And Garden. In Fact, Gardening Is Probably What I Enjoy Doing More Than Anything Else.
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I Was Born In New York But As A Baby Moved To Venezuela And Argentina. I've Also Lived In Denmark, Where My Father's From. I've Traveled A Lot, And Having That Sort Of Background Probably Increased The Chance That I Was Going To Remain Curious As An Adult About People Who Are Different.
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I Now Realize That I Was Very Fortunate To Have Grown Up In Many Different Places, Surrounded By All Kinds Of People, All Kinds Of Points Of View.
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Once You Learn The Idea Of What A Good Guy Is, You Want Your Dad To Be A Good Guy, And When Your Dad Lets You Down And Doesn't Act Like A Good Guy, It's Disappointing And Can Make You Angry As You See It Happen, Which Is Beautiful And Very Believable.
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Dad
Ideas
My Job As An Artist, As I See It, Is To Understand And In Some Cases To Take On Various Ways Of Thinking About People And The World That Are Different From My Own, Sometimes Radically Different.
Jobs
Thinking
Artist
I Was Raised Speaking English And Spanish. And I Also Speak Danish. And I Can Get By In French And Italian. I've Acted In Spanish And English, But When Something Has To Do With Emotions, Sometimes I Feel I Can Get To The Heart Of The Matter Better In Spanish.
Heart
Italian
Matter
You Know, Real Life Doesn't Just Suddenly Resolve Itself. You Have To Keep Working At It. Democracy, Marriage, Friendship. You Can't Just Say She's My Best Friend. That's Not A Given, It's A Process.
Real
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Democracy
I Don't Have A Blackberry Or Whatever You Call It. And There Is Something To Be Said For Being Isolated And Out Of Phone Range, Because You Can Fall Into A Habit To Such A Degree That You Don't Even Realise That You've Lost Something: Silence.
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Phones
Silence
Travel Is One Of The Best Anti-war Weapons That There Are. I've Been To Iran, And If You're There You See Little Kids, Cops, Old People, Cemeteries. Once You See That, You Can't Say, 'oh, Iran, Let's Bomb Them.'
War
Kids
Iran
People Will Like To Say That 'eastern Promises' Is Brutal, But The Only Reason They Say That Is Because The Scenes Stick With Them. They Are Realistic. They Are In-your-face And You See The Consequences. It's Not A Bunch Of Quick Editing Cuts.
Cutting
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Bernie Sanders Has Inspired Millions Of People In This Country.
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People
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I Grew Up With Horses When I Was A Kid In Argentina. I Like Them. I Respect Them. I'm Careful Around Them. You Never Know What They're Going To Do. They're Endlessly Interesting. I've Had Some Good Acting Partners That Were Horses Over The Years.
Horse
Kids
Years
Perhaps The Itinerant Upbringing My Brothers And I Had Has Something To Do With My Continued Interest In Perspectives Different From My Own.
Brother
Perspective
Different
I'm Certainly Curious About People. As A Kid, I Moved Around A Lot. I Was Raised In A Lot Of Different Places, And Thanks To Working In The Movies, I've Gotten To Keep Traveling. I've Always Been Interested In Other Cultures And Languages.
Kids
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People
I Know People Who Prepare Their Roles In Such A Way That They Technically Look Ahead And Memorize Their Gestures, And Then They Stick To It. Those That Are Technically Proficient Enough Can Make It Seem Natural, But They Do That And Don't Really Take In What Other People Are Doing.
People
Roles
Looks
I Suppose A Good Director Is Like A Teacher. I Think That Someone Like David Cronenberg Was Very Much Like A Teacher, Because There's An Openness, But A Certain Set Of Rules Of Behavior, And A Certain Conduct Expected. But There's An Atmosphere That's Relaxed And Conducive To Exploration, And That Is Created By Someone Like Cronenberg.
Teacher
Thinking
Atmosphere
Awards For Arts, Where You Make Comparisons, Don't Make Much Sense.
Art
Awards
Comparison
You Know, Real Life Doesn't Just Suddenly Resolve Itself. You Have To Keep Working At It.
Real
Real Life
Resolve
I'm Very Comfortable In Argentina. I Was Raised There As A Baby And Stayed There Until I Was 11 Years Old, So The First Decade Of My Life Or My Formative Years Were Spent In Argentina. I Stayed In Tune With The Food, Music And Language.
Baby
Years
Tunes
I Have No Idea What 'method Actor' Means.
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Ideas
Actors
I Like Naturally Occurring Film Grain, And What Happens To Film When It's Under- And Over-exposed.
Film
Grain
Exposed
When I Have A Day Off, I Won't Spend It At A Hollywood Party. I'd Rather Be At Home With Paints And A Blank Canvas.
Party
Home
Hollywood
I'm Not A Great Fan Of Monarchy In General, But I Have To Say The Danish Monarchy Is Closer To The People; It's Not As Stuffy As The English One.
People
Fans
Danish
This Basic Thing I Always Do: 'what Happened Between The Character's Birth, And Page One Of The Script?' Anything That's Not In The Story, I'll Fill In The Blanks.
Character
Stories
Pages
I Would Literally Climb Out Of The Cradle While My Parents Slept, Go And Crawl Off. I Did This A Couple Of Times Apparently. I'd Cross The Road And Into Someone's House, Wake Them Up Banging Pots And Pans In The Kitchen.
Couple
House
Parent
Adult Characters Are All The Things They've Encountered Over Time. But Kids Haven't Accumulated All The Life Experience, All The Regrets. They Tend To Be More In The Moment, More Willing To Play, To Be Joyful.
Regret
Character
Kids
'the Road' Is About That Fear That All Parents Can Have. What's Going To Happen To Your Child If You're Not Around? It Takes Those Concerns To An Extreme. In The Film, Without Me The Boy Has No Food, No Shelter, No Resources At All.
Children
Boys
Parent
I Trust Hillary Clinton About As Far As I Could Throw Donald Trump.
Clinton
Trump
If You Don't Find Some Way To Discuss What's Going On Inside You, It Can Come Out In Other Ways That Are Self-destructive.
Self
Way
Ifs
In Terms Of The Movie Business, Being In A 'lord Of The Rings' Has Given Me More Interesting Options As Work.
Interesting
Lord
Given
It Doesn't Matter How Bad Things Are, Something Good Could Happen Always. And It Doesn't Matter How Many Excuses You Have For Behaving In An Unkind Manner Towards Others. There's Never Any Excuse For Not Being Kind And It's Always Better To Be Kind Even If It Seems Pointless And That In Fact Is The Highest Wisdom - Being Kind. It Sounds Like A Very Noble, Ethereal, Simplistic Idea But It's True.
Excuse You
Ideas
Sound
Usually The Characters I Play Are Men Of Few Words, Who Communicate In Non-verbal Ways.
Character
Men
Play
I Love Rehearsing, But A Lot Of Directors Don't, And Some Actors Don't.
Actors
Directors
Rehearsing
To Be An Artist, You Don't Have To Compose Music Or Paint Or Be In The Movies Or Write Books. It's Just A Way Of Living. It Has To Do With Paying Attention, Remembering, Filtering What You See And Answering Back, Participating In Life.
Book
Writing
Artist
You Don't Have To Make Something That People Call Art. Living Is An Artistic Activity, There Is An Art To Getting Through The Day.
Art
People
Artistic
As [john] Tolkien Himself Said, The Story [lord Of The Ring ] Is Not Allegorical. He Said So When People Tried To Make Analogies To World War Ii And The Fight Against Hitler And His Fascist Coalition.
War
Fighting
People
I Realise How Important It Is To Use The Time I Have. I Respect People Who Want To Do That By Watching Television. I Happen To Want To Read Books. But I Know I Can't Read All The Books Or Watch All The Movies In One Lifetime.
Book
People
Important
It's Just Like With People. You're Going To Get Along Better Working With Them - Human Or Equine - If You Ask Politely Rather Than Demand That They Do Things.
People
Demand
Equine
Like Most People - Unless They're Very Practised At It Or Have No Warm Blood At All In Their Veins - I Feel A Little Apprehensive About The Red Carpet. It's Always A Bit Bewildering When People Are Taking Pictures And Asking Questions Before The Ceremony.
Asking Questions
Blood
People
Here's Where We Are, This Is What's Happening. So Do Something, Or Get Out Of The Kitchen.
Kitchen
Happenings
More Often Than Not, The Experience Of Shooting The Movie Has Been Disappointing And The End Product Has Been A Mere Shadow Of What I Hoped It Would Be. But Immersing Myself In The Story - That's What I Like Best Of All.
Shadow
Would Be
Stories
To Strive For Something Better - At Least There's A Chance.
Chance
Strive
Something Better
Saying You Are A Patriot Does Not Make You One; Wearing A Flag Pin Does Not In Itself Mean Anything At All.
Mean
Doe
Flags
I Know I Said I Wanted To Live Forever And I Would Never Be Bored, But The Reality Is, It's Probably Kind Of Sad To Live Forever If You're The Only One Sticking Around.
Reality
Bored
Forever
I Have Friends Who I Get Along With Who I Know Get Very Uncomfortable Being Alone, Unless They're With People, Talking All The Time. Whether It's On The Phone, Or In Person, They're Never By Themselves. Whereas I Could Be Alone For Months.
Loneliness
Being Alone
Phones
When I Heard Puerto Ricans In New York City, It Sounded Very Strange. And The First Time I Heard Someone From Spain, I Thought They Had A Speech Impediment!
New York
Cities
Spain
As Regards Hillary C;inton's Foreign Policy Actions And The Powerful Vested Interests She Seems Gleefully Beholden To, Including All The Biggest Players In The Military-industrial Complex, I Feel That She Would Be No Better An Actor On The World Stage Than Trump And Whatever Coalition Of Managers He Might Cobble Together.
Powerful
Military
Player
The Only Thing That I Always Do - Is Once I've Taken On A Job, Even Just To Do One Scene In A Movie, I Ask Myself, "what's Happened The Moment The Kid Was Born, Until Page One Of The Script?" To Answer That Simple Question, I Have An Infinite Amount Of Work To Do. And I Enjoy That Part As Much As I Enjoy Any Part Of Making Movies.
Jobs
Taken
Kids
I've Been Naked Physically In Movies - But It's A Whole Other Thing To Be Naked Emotionally In A Way That's Not Just A Distraction Or A Character.
Character
Naked
Way
As You Get Older, You Get Stuck In Your Ways; Just As You Become Stiffer Physically, You Also Become Stiffer Mentally And More Narrow-minded Unless You Make A Conscious Effort To Keep Yourself Flexible.
Effort
Way
Conscious
You Have A Moral Obligation To Finish The Job You Said You Would Do.
Jobs
Moral
Said
You Should Always Do The Things In Life That Are Both Interesting And Make You Afraid.
Things In Life
Interesting
Should
Anyone Can Identify With Those Moments In Life Where Circumstances Or People Inform Us That We've Strayed From The Path Of Our Better Nature And Intentions. We Know What That's Like, And We Resist It - So As Not To Feel Like We're Bad People.
People
Path
Moments
One Of The Best Pieces Of Advice I Ever Got Was From A Horse Master. He Told Me To Go Slow To Go Fast. I Think That Applies To Everything In Life. We Live As Though There Aren't Enough Hours In The Day But If We Do Each Thing Calmly And Carefully We Will Get It Done Quicker And With Much Less Stress.
Horse
Stress
Thinking
Those Who Have The Power And Should Be The Most Responsible Are Often The Least Responsible.
Responsible
Should
I Met Cindy [sheehan] Near Crawford, Texas. I Went Out To Personally Thank Her For Waiting Patiently By The Road In Front Of George And Laura Bush's Ranch For An Answer From Her President As To Why And For What Her Son And Others Had Been Sacrificed In The Unlawful Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq.
Son
Iraq
Texas
The Black Lives Matter Movement, The Various Occupy Movements In Spain And The Rest Of Europe, In This Country, And Elsewhere Serve As An Example Of What Can Be Done, And How Strong The Voices For Positive Change And Truly Democratic Progress Can Be.
Country
Strong
Europe
We Often Live In The Past A Lot More Than We Probably Realize.
Past
Realizing
It Doesn't Take That Many Years For A Kid To Realise That They're Going To Die. It's Always There In The Back Of Their Mind The Rest Of Their Lives.
Kids
Years
Mind
People Talk About Method Actors, Meaning Someone That's Prepared Very, Very Well, Or Whatever They Mean When They Talk About It. But The Right Method Is Whatever Works For You. And What Works For Me On Any Given Day Is Going To Be Different.
Mean
People
Different
[captain Fantastic] It's A Great Story. It's One Of The Better Scripts I've Read, Ever, As Far As Being Great From Beginning To End. It Handles A Variety Of Characters. You Have Six Children Who All Stand On Their Own, They're All Individuals. And It Touches On A Very Real Issue, Which Is The Lack Of Cohesion And Communication In America Right Now.
Children
Real
Communication
I Look At My Job As Looking At The World From Points Of View That Are Different From Mine - Sometimes Radically Different From Mine.
Jobs
Views
Different
I've Been Lucky To Learn By Playing All Kinds Of Roles And Watching All Kinds Of Really Good Cinematographers, Actors, And Directors For Many Years Before People Were Even Aware Of Me In Terms Of Audience.
Years
People
Directors
I Think You Have To Be Flexible Above All As An Actor; Different Characters Have Different Demands, Actors That You Work With Are Different In Their Approach, Or How You Get Along Or Don't Get Along With Them.
Character
Thinking
Different
I Have Never Been In A Natural Place And Felt That It Was A Waste Of Time. I Never Have. And It's A Relief. If I'm Walking Around A Desert Or Whatever, Every Second Is Worthwhile.
Hair
Desert
Waste
Having A Mixed Background And Feeling A Little Bit Like A Fish Out Of Water In Most Places Can Be A Benefit.
Water
Feelings
Benefits
I Don't Think Special Attention Should Be Given To An Actor Or A Singer Or A Baseball Player Or A Soccer Player More Than Anyone Else, But They Do Have An Opinion Like Anyone Else.
Soccer
Baseball
Player
My Goal Is Just To Make Movies, Whether They're Big Or Small, That I'd Like To See 10 Years From Now.
Years
Goal
Bigs
Speaking More Than One Language And Living In A Multicultural Family And Environment Did Not Seem Like Anything But What It Was: The World I Lived In.
World
Language
Environment
It's Hard Not To Get Depressed When You Pay Attention To The World And How Strangely And Corrupt The People In It Sometimes Behave.
People
Attention
World
America Is An Empire In Decay. But We Don't Have To Lash Out And Do Damage On The Way Down. We Can Reverse Some Of The Damage We've Done. It's Possible.
America
Decay
Done
Most Actors Can't Make Any Kind Of Living.
Actors
Kind
As Martin Luther King Said, "passively To Participate In An Unjust System Is To Accept That System And To Participate In Its Evil."
Kings
Evil
Unjust
Be Kind. It's Worthwhile To Make An Effort To Learn About Other People And Figure Out What You Might Have In Common With Them.
People
Effort
Might
It's Amazing To Me That Glenn Beck Can Be On The Cover Of 'time,' And There Can Be A Whole Article About Him Basically Saying, 'well, You Know, He's Controversial.' It's Like, 'no, He's A Dangerous Idiot Who Needs The Help Of A Good Psychiatrist!'
Needs
Helping
Idiot
Walking Down The Street In Any Town Or City In The World And Having People Look At You And Start Talking To You, Convinced That They Know You As Well Or Better Than They Do Members Of Their Own Family, That's Just An Odd Phenomenon. But I Mean, I Wouldn't Say It Was A Bad Thing. It's An Interesting Thing.
Mean
Cities In The World
Talking
Further Devastation Of The Air, Land And Sea Is Obviously A Very Real Possibility, Unless The Attitudes Of Politicians And All Who Irresponsibly Exploit Our Natural Resources Change Significantly In The Very Near Future And All Collaborate And Sacrifice For The Good Of The Planet.
Attitude
Real
Sacrifice
If In My Twenties I'd Gotten One Of The Two-dozen Roles That I Did Screen Tests For And Almost Got, I Think I Would Have Become Bored With The Awards Circuit, The Whole Hype Machine.
Thinking
Awards
Two
Any Nominations A Movie Gets Helps To Raise The Level Of Curiosity In The Public, So In That Sense Awards And Nominations Are Important.
Awards
Curiosity
Important
When I Was A Little Boy, I Rode, But I Didn't Own Horses.
Horse
Boys
Littles
It's Easy To Get Depressed And Think, "well, What's The Point?" But It's The Same As, "well, We're All Going To Die, So What's The Point In Brushing My Teeth Or Even Saying Hello To Anyone Or Obeying Traffic Lights." You Can Do That, But That's Certainly Not Going To Take You Anywhere.
Thinking
Light
Saying Hello
It's Almost A Standard Tactic, Really, To Try To Minimize Any Effort That People In The Entertainment Business Or In Any Public Occupation Make To Express Themselves.
People
Effort
Trying
I Was Raised In Argentina Until I Was 11 And Now I Go Back There A Lot, At Least Twice A Year. It's A Country Where I Feel Very Comfortable And It Represents An Important Period In My Life.
Country
Years
Important
One Of The Main Ways That Leadership Stays In Power Is By, In Various Ways, Convincing People That They Should Just Let Those Who Are In Government Govern: 'trust Us. Trust Me. Just Let Us Take Care Of Things. Stay Out Of It.' Your Opinions Don't Really Matter. You Are Isolated. You Are Insignificant.
Government
People
Care
I Want To See What The Green Party Looks Like. I Think If People Don't Start Voting What They Feel, If That's Something Other Than The Democratic Party Or The Republican Party, Then Nothing's Going To Change. You Need More Political Parties That Actually Have A Chance.
Party
Thinking
People
Even The Implication That The Lord Of The Rings Is A Mythic Story About Western, White Supremacy - Regardless Of The Political Leanings Of Anyone Who Tries To Make That Case - Is A Load Of Self-justifying, Destructive Horseshit.
White
Self
Political
I Think That People Who Get To A Certain Position, And Then Try To Ferociously Defend It Or Build On It, It's Kind Of A Dead-end Street. You See People Becoming Miserable That Way.
Thinking
People
Trying
People Are Becoming More Intimately Acquainted With People Who Are Different Than Them - It's Not So Unusual Anymore.
People
Different
Becoming
I Think, On A Surface Level, People Are Surprised To See Me Playing Such A Passive Role In 'good.'
Thinking
People
Levels
Toronto Film Festival Is One Of Those Festivals Where There Are 400 Movies, And Unless You Have A Distributor Who Is Super Confident And Puts A Lot Of Money Into It, Sometimes Movies Can Go Unwatched Or Unnoticed.
Toronto
Festivals
Sometimes
I've Never Played A Dane In A Movie. I've Had Offers To Be In Danish Movies, Including For Some Good Directors, But I Either Had A Job At The Time Or, When I Was Available, The Movie Just Didn't Happen. Hopefully Someday I'll Do One.
Jobs
Directors
Someday
At The End Of The 19th Century And The First Half Of The 20th Century In Austria, There Was A Lot Of Anti-semitism. Anti-semitism In Austria Was Much More Pervasive Than In Germany. And Austrians Took To Nazi Ideas And Anti-semitism Much More Readily Than Germans Did, Really.
Ideas
Germany
Austria
I Think We're On The Wrong Path In This Country And Have Been For A While. People Are In Their Camps Divided By Region, Economic Situation, Race, Religion, Ideology. And There's A Lot Of Just Staying In Your Camp Using Technology To Bolster Your Case Without Actually Debating With Other People, Without Discussing.
Country
Technology
Thinking
You Can't Really Divorce Yourself And Your Life From The World You Live In.
Divorce
World
We All Experience Many Freakish And Unexpected Events - You Have To Be Open To Suffering A Little. The Philosopher Schopenhauer Talked About How Out Of The Randomness, There Is An Apparent Intention In The Fate Of An Individual That Can Be Glimpsed Later On. When You Are An Old Guy, You Can Look Back, And Maybe This Rambling Life Has Some Through-line. Others Can See It Better Sometimes. But When You Glimpse It Yourself, You See It More Clearly Than Anyone.
Fate
Guy
Suffering
In The End, The Actor's Main Power Is The Power To Say, 'no.'
Actors
Ends
One Of The Most Recent Things We Did [in Perceval Press] Is A Reissue Of A Fantastic Documentary About Russian Prison Tattoo Culture By Alix Lambert Called The Mark Of Cain. We've Done Books From Twilight Of Empire, That Actually Has Forewords By Howard Zinn And Dennis Kucinich And Others, To Books Of Poetry, Photography, Painting - All Kinds Of Books.
Tattoo
Photography
Book
That Is To Say, Hillary Clinton Is Not, In My Mind, A Satisfying Or Calming Alternative To Donald Trump.
Mind
Alternatives
Calming
Kids Accept Where They Are Because They Don't Know The Past. They Know What They Have; They Know Where They Are.
Kids
Past
Accepting
In December Of 2002, The Late Richard Corliss, A Respected Movie Critic With A Long And Illustrious Career, Wrote An Embarrassing Letter Of Support For The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq And Afghanistan In The Guise Of A Time Magazine Review Of Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.
Careers
Two
Iraq
I Try To Research Or Make Up For Myself What Happened In Any Character's Life. From When He Was Born Until The First Page Of The Script. I Fill In The Blanks.
Character
Trying
Research
When I Make A Movie, I Don't Break It Down And Analyze It. I Could But It Would Get In The Way Of Doing A Job - On Instinct Based On All The Research We Did Going In. You Want To Trust Yourself And Your Director And Your Acting Partners In The Circumstances You're Shooting. I Don't Like To Have Any Kind Of Overview.
Jobs
Acting
Directors
Trending Author
Robert Ludlum
Patricia Cornwell
Lauren Bacall
Michael Korda
Thomas Nagel
Maggie Q
Category
Information