120 Quotes by Matt Dillon

Acting is very competitive. There are few good scripts out there and the ones that are good are very competitive. You look at your options and often times they’re not too appealing.

I think a lot of directors, they come out of film school, they don’t know anything about acting. Or they’re writers that don’t know anything about the process. And I think they’re afraid sometimes to talk to actors and be honest with actors.

In politics there are so many holes, so many contradictions, you don’t know what’s happening.

I had acting teachers, and one of the things that was encouraged was to keep it fresh, to be spontaneous. That’s the magic of film often.

I have always wanted to play different kinds of stuff, but it’s hard, first to find good material, and then to change people’s perception of you so they’ll let you do it. I mean, I would really like to play a poet, but once they get this notion of you as a street guy, it’s hard to change that.

I do get bottled up in interviews. You’re thinking about what you’re saying, and suddenly you get all tangled. So people think I’m sullen, or that I don’t have much to say. But my friends will tell you: a lot of times I talk too much.

I don’t worry about whether a character is likable, as long as the character is believable.

As an actor, you can’t be off the market for too long.

Of course, if you’re gonna make movies, you gotta make movies, and I’m not gonna say no to a good role.