Top 66 Paul Dano Quotes

The world of the homeless is a tough and interesting world.

I don’t want my learning curve to be stunted by just all of a sudden doing work all the time and not being careful about the work that I’m doing.

I think that one of the strangest things about being an actor is, it’s almost freelance work.

New York is kind of a mythological city in may ways.

I went to private school in Manhattan, and at a young age, they made us do public speaking. For some reason, I was good at standing in front of the class and speaking.

With somebody like Harrison Ford, they’re so commanding and confident, and you know, he does have a certain power or charisma, and those are things that are sort of ineffable.

My first paying job might have been doing a play, actually. My mom paid me to dress up as a flounder at my sister‘s ‘Little Mermaid‘ – themed birthday party when I was little.

I love Brooklyn; it’s a part of who you are.

Listening to hard rock on the subway doesn’t work for me, especially modern hard rock. Driving in L.A. helped me to understand the appeal of that music.

As people, no matter what we are doing, your whole body is living and breathing.

There are maybe 100 actors I look up to, but my first two favourite actors were Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson.

People have asked me about playing outsiders. I don’t consider myself an outsider. Maybe that’s why I’m interested in that. I’m not really sure.

I go down to the dive bar around the corner when I go out. I don’t go to the showbiz parties.

As an actor, I always feel you basically have to be able to delude yourself.

Sometimes we fall in love with the idea of a person and have trouble seeing the real thing.

I think was overly empathetic for a while in my life.

I know I am always pumped, as an audience member, to go and see a Western.

When my girlfriend‘s away, I cook a big vat of meaty pasta and sauce and eat that for about a week. Then I eat out the rest of the time. When she’s home, we eat at home probably twice a week. I chop, she cooks.

I don’t like tight pants on guys.

Some projects go as you hope or imagine, and some change or reveal themselves in a different way; it depends.

You look at the part in ’12 Years A Slave,’ you finish that script – I mean, it’s a powerful story. You go, ‘Man, I have to play a bad character in this.’ And then you go, ‘Well, do I want to play a bad character and contribute to a good story?’

I know an actor who would play one type of part but could never get cast as tough. Once he got cast as tough, as a cop, he only got offered cop roles. It’s a funny business in that regard. It’s all about perception.

I can obviously relate to a character who is an artist, because the creative process is a big part of my life.

I do like the idea of consequence and how our actions play themselves out, but I am completely scared of knowing what the future would be like. I would never go near a fortune teller, even though it’s probably not even real. I just don’t wanna know.

Have I seen any plays that I’ve been in? Uh, you know, might be a little weird.

One of my favorite films is ‘Dumb and Dumber.’ I’d love to do some really silly comedy someday.

I tore my ACL playing basketball.

I think it is important to make sure that I have my real life as well, because Hollywood can certainly seem like an alternate reality sometimes.

I’m a private person, but I don’t feel afraid to walk out of my door or anything. I get recognised occasionally, but not overwhelmingly so.

I sort of grew up doing theater. And that’s how I got into film, actually.

The only constant I can find is hard work.

I do think the first time you read a script, that gut response is very important, and that probably plants a seed that continues to blossom throughout the whole experience.

I started acting pretty young, so I haven‘t had too many odd jobs. But I used to sell candy out of my locker in middle school.

At the heart of drama is conflict.

I think the idea is to try and understand everything about the characters and where the character is coming from, from their point of view, why they say what they do. And not, ‘Oh, but I would never say that. Why does the character say that?’ But then making it as personal as possible.

When I’m not acting, I like to go home and be really normal. So I usually grow out my hair until I get the next part.

I volunteered at a homeless shelter in preparation for ‘Being Flynn,’ and when I’m walking along the Bowery, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. That’s a nice memory.

I don’t like to spend a lot of money on haircuts: I’ll sometimes grow my hair and get an acting job and get them to cut it for free. I think for a lady, though, it’s okay to spend a lot on a haircut.

I mean, to feel in good hands as an actor… it’s the best feeling.

As an actor, the toughest thing is being subject to circumstance. Meaning: What scripts are out there that are available?

Homeless people really upset me when I was little. A lot of kids have this reaction, but I would get really worried or sad or concerned or cry.

I grew up in Manhattan, and now I live in Brooklyn.

I’m very low-maintenance.

Being actors is a strange job.

I’d always been fascinated by people who allow themselves to be so rude and irritated and foul-mouthed and hostile, but usually you can sense there’s something vulnerable beneath them – a shield they use to protect that vulnerable side. Finally, when they expose that soft spot, it’s kind of touching.

‘Looper’ was a wonderful script. Rian Johnson is the real deal and a really talented filmmaker.

I know I’d like to direct a film at some point, and maybe I’ll write it.

Let’s say honorary favorite New Yorker is John Lennon, and favorite real New Yorker is Biggie, because he’s the best.

I think you sometimes have to go hit rock bottom before you can grow and rebuild as a person.

One thing you notice is, there’s a lot of people with raw talent, and then there’s people who take that talent and work hard.

I would not take a girl to a club on a Thursday. I would not take her to a really noisy, swanky restaurant.

In life, you have to keep certain parts of yourself in check because you want to be a decent human being. But one of the guilty pleasures of acting is that sometimes you get to let a little something out that you don’t in life because it’s not right.

I don’t really know what kind of actor I am.

I love Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC.

I remember going to the theatre when I was little and the lights going down and just getting really scared about what was going to happen up there.

A lot of people think I must be weird because of the films I’ve done. I get that.

The hardest thing about working with your partner is that the work starts to become first.

I approach every role from scratch.

It’s a lot of fun to be a part of films that you don’t exactly know how they’re going to turn out.

There’s that thing that if you want to have any kind of lasting love, I think you have to love the whole person and not just the parts of them that you choose.

I think ‘American Pie’ is great.

It’s a funny thing. You sort of never figure it out with acting. You’re always learning.

You try to get to know your character as best as you can before you start filming – what’s written and not written.

I’m a sucker for period pieces. There is always great opportunity for research and to delude yourself into feeling like you are in a different time and place.

I’ve seen people, where if they have to wait around the set for three hours, and they call you at the wrong time, and they’re not ready for you, some people don’t like that.

I’m not a person who needs to chit-chat between takes by any means.