Quotes from W. Earl Brown

Any characters that make me think, 'I don't know if I can do this,' are the ones I most want to do. I don't want to do the same thing over and over.

All stories boil down to good vs. evil, and that's what the archetypal American Western was.

I try to physically and mentally immerse myself in whatever it is I am doing. That is good for me as an artist. I am always looking for that part that I have never done before, which makes it all the more difficult, because people want to hire you for what they've already seen you do.

I try to physically and mentally immerse myself in whatever it is I am doing. That is good for me as an artist.

That's the cool thing, when I get to work with people I love. The biggest has probably been Kris Kristofferson on 'Bloodworth.'

My dad traveled a lot, so I only usually saw him on weekends, growing up. His favorite actors in the world were Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. If Clint or Burt had a movie out, we would go to the movies. He didn't like movies, generally, unless Clint or Burt were in them.

David Milch is one of the smartest human beings I've ever met. I'm relatively bright and relatively well-read. I'm not in a league with that guy.

I told my wife once, 'I feel like I'm getting paid to sit at the feet of Aristotle.' Some people are like, 'You're comparing David Milch to Aristotle,' and yeah, I am, but I'm not Plato.

I like playing the bad guys. It's a way of exercising and exorcising my own personal demons.

While I do not want to live my life like Lemmy chose to live his, I can't help but admire the strength and determination it took for Lem to do it all on his own terms and remain true to himself.

I was a bouncer when I was in DePaul in Chicago at the theater school. I threw drunks out of bars - unless I had a play running that weekend. But I only had two actual fights. Some were like out of old Westerns.

While my megalomania knows no bounds, directing is one thing I have never really done. I directed a couple of plays. That was the extent of it.

I consider William Gay one of the great writers that no one has ever heard of.

I am a music freak. My tastes run the gamut from Willie Nelson to Metallica to Miles Davis.

I was a rabid 'Seinfeld' fan. Then I did the show, and it ruined the show for me. Not that it ruined the quality of the show, but I had seen behind the curtain at Oz.

I once did a film in which I was being chased by wolves. I had a scene where the Alpha of the pack leapt on the hood of my car and stared me down through the windshield. I will never forget staring into those eyes; this wasn't a dog - not even a tough, bad-ass dog - no, this was a wolf.

I'm very wary of fawning too much over heroes. There's an old adage that heroes are best kept at arm's length, and in a few instances in my life, that's been true.

My friend, Zachary Throne, was playing a gig with Lemmy and the Upsetters. Knowing of our shared love of Motorhead, Zach called me up and invited me to the rehearsal.

If you loved music, Lemmy was your friend, regardless of who you were or where you came from.

I grew up playing cowboy, and I still have all my Johnny West toys from when I was a kid. I have my actual toys from when I was five.

John Belushi made me want to be an actor.

I grew up in Murray, Kentucky. My wife is from there, also.

My best friend growing up was a truck driver, and it was big in truck stops. He'd have his 'Deadwood' DVDs, and they'd watch them in the lounge.

I grew up hunting and fishing in Land Between the Lakes. I have so many great memories of camping with my mom over at Redd Hollow.