Quotes About Acting

I've played American, Italian, Greek, French. I've been really lucky that way.

There are lots of wonderful old Italian actors. You don't need to take an Egyptian to play an Italian actor.

It's funny, because I've never thought of myself as a Hispanic actor, like in 'American Gangster,' I'm playing an Italian. I've always been fortunate enough to have been allowed to play all these diverse roles.

The first acting I ever did was an Italian commercial. Once I did that, I said, 'this acting thing is awesome.'

Everybody I play probably has some Italian in them.

I've played some gangster roles, but that's obviously not me. When you're an Italian-American New York actor, it's just an easy way to get cast.

I always knew I was going to do something with music, but with my whole family being in the business, acting was something that was just mine. But when I was 20 or 21, I started writing songs and felt the itch to make a record.

I am itching to play every character.

I did some really big films like 'Vaastav' with Sanjay Dutt, 'Pukar' with Anil Kapoor, and 'Jab Pyar Kissi se Hota Hai' with Salman Khan. But I didn't make any effort to cash in on their success.

Unless you're Jack Lemmon or Cary Grant, there are few guys who can do comedy and drama.

When you see me play Jack, I want you to believe that that's a gay character.

I'd say that acting is a side project for Jack.

I'd like to do movies. The kind of comedies Jack Lemmon does.

I'd love to do like a modern day 'Shining' and play the Jack Nicholson role.

I think Jack Nicholson in 'Chinatown' is a very funny character, but I would never call that a comedy.

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the best actors there is.

We play make-believe and dress up for a living. One goes, one doesn't go, whatever. I don't understand how you can get bitter or jaded. We're just so lucky to get to do this.

In '87, I used to do this awful, awful James Brown impression.

At the time - but we've since made amends - James Franco and I really didn't get along. When we were on 'Freaks and Geeks,' we were 19, and we really, really disliked each other. He shoved me to the ground once; it was really brutal. We're friends now, and we really like each other now as adults - but as kids, we did not get along.

But James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, they did such great work, especially in the last show.

Lauren Bacall, James Garner, and Jack Lemmon - they're all gone now, but I was so impressed by them.

I saw 'Othello' with Christopher Plummer and James Earl Jones.

Roles constantly have to be redefined in any form of entertainment. Look back at the gangster pics of the 1930s and 1940s and the way James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart would play the part. These roles were redefined in the 1970s by Al Pacino and Rober DeNiro. And again in the 1990s by Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins.

My James Bond wasn't any different to my Saint or my Persuaders or anything else I've done. I've just made everything that I play look like me and sound like me.