160 Quotes by Dustin Hoffman

Usually, those people don't even like actors and they can't wait until they get in the cutting room. They kind of break down in categories: directors who like to be surprised and some of them abhor being surprised. As far as directing, we all direct when we're acting in movies... every single one of us.

I think one of the things you have to be aware of as an actor is that if you come on the set and see the director standing there mouthing all the words while a scene is going on, that's usually a very bad sign because it means the director has already shot the scene in his head. He knows exactly the rhythm and the nuances that he wants delivered in the line and you're not going to dissuade him.

It's true what they say about failure. You don't learn from success.

One of the things you can do as an actor, is compensate for the things you can't do in life.

I want to thank my parents for not practicing birth control.

I lived below the official American poverty line until I was 31.

I love working, I'd be dead if I hadn't found myself as an actor I didn't have to be successful.

I got into acting so that I could meet girls. Pretty girls came later. First, I wanted to start off with someone with two legs, who'd smile at me and look soft.

A "take" is an opportunity to fail ... and we think that we have to get it right all the time.