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" I think on some level, you do your best things when you're a little off-balance, a little scared. You've got to work from mystery, from wonder, from not knowing. "
Willem Dafoe
Do Your Best
Best
Work
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" I set myself challenges every time I work. Ideally, I approach everything as though it's the first time - with a beginner's mind and an amateur's love. "
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" I have no doubt that if I met Bob Dylan, it would be disappointing - and annoying to him. But that's why I like Bob Dylan. "
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" That's a frustration sometimes, that certain directors that I'd like to work with, they just aren't doing stories that I'm sort of castable in. Not always, but sometimes I have that frustration. "
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" I love Sam Neill. The thing that I always say about him, and I think it's true, is he's so dry. When he's serious, I think he's joking; when he's joking, I think he's serious. "
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" Let's hope I never end up on a deserted island, because I could never make a decision on which three CDs to take with me. "
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" I was watching 'Wild at Heart,' and I can honestly say I did nothing for that apart from show up! "
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" It's no fun for an actor to keep repeating what you did before. It's always changing. I'm changing. The target keeps moving. That's the beauty of it. "
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" Sometimes I think women are lucky because they can develop in ways men can't. The old-boy network may be oppressive to women, but it actually stunts men in terms of personal growth. "
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" When I give over to somebody's vision rather than have an idea of what I need to do, it takes me to places I wouldn't have got to by myself. I'm always attracted to a strong director. "
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" I do know that I like to play characters that are sometimes a little on the outside - that's because it feels kind of romantic and sexier to me. I really think they are the people that we learn lessons from. "
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" Basically, when I hear the words 'family drama,' I run in the opposite direction. "
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" My dad was a surgeon, my mom a nurse, and they were always out working. I had five sisters and a brother. They didn't care what I got up to. "
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Surgeon
" I've never had any close male friends. The most important relationships in my life have always been with women. "
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Life
My Life
Women
" There's a real wisdom to not saying a thing. "
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Saying
Real
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" I think back story can help guide your choices, but when you're playing a scene, you're not making choices; you're just intuitive. "
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" Corruption is something you face all the time. Avoid it. "
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You
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" I was born William. My father was William. I came from a big family, I hated being called Billy. Willem's a nickname; it's a Dutch name, very common in the Netherlands. "
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Father
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" I knew very little about 'Spider-Man'. I grew up more in the 'Superman' generation. 'Spider-Man' - I didn't know so much. But it is a really successful franchise, and I'm happy to be involved with it. "
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Generation
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" All the time, as an actor, you want to be asking what's next and where things are going. If you're not asking those questions, you're not growing. "
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Time
" You have to lose yourself to find yourself. "
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" I think, as I've gotten older, I've been able to be more reckless with my choices, because practically speaking, you get less careful. Your choices become more instinctive, and you feel like if you make a mistake, it won't destroy you. "
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" It's true in the beginning I started playing villains, and I think that's pretty clear, because if you don't conventionally look a certain way and you've got a certain kind of presence when you're young, then what's available to you is character roles, and the best character roles when you're young tend to be villains. "
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" It makes me laugh when I hear a guy talking about being in touch with his feminine side. But I gravitate towards women; I identify with them. And I do cry very easily, more and more as I get older. "
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Cry
Talking
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" In my experience, sometimes a movie just hits at the wrong time, gets the wrong press, or gets the wrong representation, and it gets misunderstood. "
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Wrong
Time
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" I'll never be able to really see a film that I'm in. "
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Never
Really
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" Turn off the sound in a movie, and if you can tell what's going on, the movie should work. "
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" I'm not attracted to naturalism, I'm not attracted to behavior, I'm attracted to dance. I'm attracted to gesture, I'm attracted to singing with your voice, as opposed to having a natural manner. I'm a theater actor first, so that probably influences a lot of my approach. And I think in many ways, naturalism has ruined movies. "
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Voice
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" The English Patient' is about the coming together of a French-Canadian nurse, an English patient, a Sikh in a turban and me, Caravaggio, and each of us is seeking a resolution to our own problems. "
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" Action breeds inspiration more than inspiration breeds action. "
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