Christopher Walken

“Well, I was sort of a jack-of-all-trades in show business for a long time. I was a singer and a dancer and then I got a job as an actor.”

“I think the fact that I was raised in show business, in New York City, in the '50s, that's affected my personality to the point that I'm a little different.”

“An actor really is a kind of intermediary between an audience and the piece, whether it's a play or movie.”

“There's something dangerous about what's funny. Jarring and disconcerting. There is a connection between funny and scary.”

“There probably aren't a lot of actors my age who tap dance.”

“I have a friend of mine who does me on his answering machine, and when I call him, I answer. It's pretty strange.”

“Morning is the best time to see movies.”

“I don't much like being directed. I enjoy being allowed to play.”

“Because if I don't know my lines, I really don't know what I'm doing.”

“I became an actor by accident. I suppose I figured since I was in musical comedy from the time I was a teenager, I suppose I figured that I'd always been in that world to some extent.”

“My father was a lesson. He had his own bakery, and it was closed one day a week, but he would go anyway. He did it because he really loved his bakery. It wasn't a job.”

“I think I'm getting a little bit of Alzheimer's. Just a little.”

“I don't need to be made to look evil. I can do that on my own.”

“I'm not much of an analyzer or a psychologist.”

“To me, there are things you're good at and things you're not so good at. For some reason, I'm good at darker characters. It has to do with how you look.”

“No, improvising is wonderful. But, the thing is that you cannot improvise unless you know exactly what you're doing.”

“When I was a kid, I worked in the circus. It was a touring circus that was owned by a man named Terrell Jacobs. It was just one big tent, and he was a lion tamer. He didn't have any kids, but the bit was that I would dress up as his son in an identical outfit.”

“No, but way before that, I've been doing little dances in movies for years. Yeah, that was an amazing chance. You know, at my age to be able to do a music dance video, very unusual.”

“I used to be prettier than I am, but I think I look better now. I was a pretty boy. Particularly in my early movies. I don't like looking at them so much. There's a sort of pretty thing about me.”

“My favorite characters are the ones that are the most successful movies.”