Quotes from Dennis Farina

I've tried writing. Two days later I'd go visit it and say, Jesus Christ, who wrote this crap?

When I first started out acting, I didn't have anything to lose. I had another career. If I fell on my face, I could say, 'I'll see ya,' and go back to working.

Car chases usually don't involve major criminals - they're usually guys afraid of getting another traffic ticket.

You really have to act on the force, too. You're involved in a hundred things a day, and you have to react in a hundred different ways, depending on what's going on. And you learn that as you go through your career, how you handle certain situations, interrogations, how you carry yourself. There's a kind of acting to it.

The British have slang words, as we do, but it was fun.

If you did something, and it wasn't right, you definitely found out about it. And they were pretty smart people, both my parents, so you didn't get too much by them.

I'd love to do a Western. A real Western like John Ford used to do. There's not too many of them made, so I don't know if I'll ever get to do that. They're awfully hard movies to make.

I wasn't so sure about signing up for 'Law & Order.' I liked the show, but another TV series? I'll tell you, though, it's been great, and I had no idea how popular the show was.

Most cop movies and TV shows are fantasies.

My mother and sisters cooked Italian food, and I never heard of half of the dishes you see in these Italian restaurants. I just go in and order spaghetti.

I know people who go back and check themselves, but it drives me crazy. Everybody wants to look in the mirror and see Cary Grant looking back at them, but that's just not the case.

Everybody wants to look in the mirror and see Cary Grant looking back at them, but that's just not the case.

I realize that no one is going to come to me and ask me to be Julius Caesar or a romantic lead, but I think I'm a certain type of guy who looks a certain way, and that's just the reality of things.

I just think 'Law & Order' is the gold standard. History is going to show that it's probably one of the best series of shows that has been on television.

I didn't fall for a lot of that stardom stuff.

Maybe it's because I was too much reality, but I'm not interested in seeing too much reality anymore. I'd rather watch a Dean Martin concert and let the world go by.

I read the script and try not to bring anything personal into it. I make notes, talk to the director and we decide what kinds of shades should be in the character.

For some reason or another, 'Richard Diamond, Private Eye,' still sticks out in my mind. I don't think I particularly liked that show, but for some reason, he sticks in my mind.

There's not too many offers that come my way about being in a musical.

My parents, I don't know about 'strict,' but I would say they were fair and judicious, you know?

I have no message or answers to social questions.

I even played a part in 'Miami Vice.'

My best year was probably 1948, and after that, it's been downhill for me.

I think my high-school acting career lasted a day.