Billy Crudup

“I wish I had more of the hero gene, but I don't think I'd be very good at playing one.”

“I live in New York City. I'm 5-foot-9 and wear Rockport shoes that make me 5-foot-91/2. They're not lifts - I deny that - but they do set off the airport metal detector. My hair is starting to gray a little. I have a gold tooth in the back.”

“I confess, I'm one of those actors who finds it incredibly hard to divorce myself and my performance from the work itself.”

“I have never indulged our society's misguided notion that my personal life is relevant to my work, so any reporting surrounding that is necessarily hearsay, speculation or fantasy.”

“I feel the film companies should pay for proper advertising to see that the movie will sell, instead of putting it on our backs.”

“There's exceptional work being done on television. Some of our great writers are writing for television. When you have things to choose from, you typically go after the writing - unless you're going after the money. There are fewer opportunities in film to make money with good writing, unless you're an action hero.”

“I always end up taking people that are morally ambiguous.”

“I am not the most objective viewer of my own work. So I have different thoughts about my work.”

“I put a lot of time and energy and thought behind what I do and the characters that I create, and I don't want to do anything peripheral that is going to make an audience see me up there on the screen rather than who I'm playing.”

“I never felt that I was typecast, but I was concerned about it. I certainly made an effort to take as many parts in theater and film that resisted that. If you only learn how to act a certain kind of role, it is very difficult to grow as an actor.”

“It's not that I don't want to be famous. It's just that I don't feel like the burden of responsibility on selling a film should be on the actors.”

“I went to acting school, and there were twenty other actors in my class who were exceptional. It's hard for anybody to get work. When I was trying to get jobs, I felt a responsibility to be respectful of the opportunities and take challenging things that could be interesting both for me as an actor and for the audience.”

“Every time I do a movie, I think it's going to be a huge hit.”

“I wish I could say that when I didn't agree with a director I defer to him, but I think sometimes I'm a little self-righteous.”

“I think one of the things that people take for granted when they watch a film is the actors have to exhibit an extraordinary amount of force to block out the stuff that isn't a part of their reality. And when the audience sees it, they're seeing everything the actor isn't seeing.”

“I've always been interested in the antihero myself.”

“If I had done 'Titanic,' it would have made, probably, $200,000 - worldwide. So I think my life would have been very, very similar.”

“I do the best I can when I'm accepting the role to say, 'This is about as much as I can do, and if that's not suitable for you, then you should hire somebody else.'”

“Interest in certain themes doesn't mandate a personal stake or personal experience of those themes. I've killed people in plays, but no one asks me what it's like to kill people.”

“That's what I always enjoyed about acting, the real adrenalin rush. My heart - still before I go on stage - crashing out of my chest. That's thrilling to me.”