Donald Sutherland

“To them though, not to us, we were just a catalyst for their imagination.”

“But no, I love acting, it's a wonderful job.”

“I was at my dermatologist, and she asked me what I was doing next. I told her I was about to do something called 'The Hunger Games.' She gasped and started calling everyone into the room, and they all came running.”

“At my age, you sort of fart your way into a role.”

“Vietnam was a lie but at least there was a political agenda. It was the domino theory. Iraq is about nothing but George Bush's ego laced with imperialist ambitions. And it was helped by your government.”

“I have been able to play a lot of guys and they have kept me working.”

“I don't think I'm an actor who takes their characters home with him. But I certainly do take the preparation home.”

“Everything was my fault. I was so dumb. But if I hadn't made the mistakes I made, I wouldn't have met the wonderful woman I've been married to for over 30 years, so I guess that makes the mistakes OK.”

“You have a little bit of talent, a certain amount of good fortune and a lot of hard work in pursuit of whatever truth you can find in it, and if you are really lucky, a terrific partner and I have that and those four things worked out for me.”

“I am so glad my wife tolerates me. And we have three wonderful sons.”

“I would look a little silly playing Casanova now.”

“I had a kind of meandering little career, and then I was given a chance to play one of the bottom six in The Dirty Dozen.”

“I have never planned anything. I have been doing this job for over 50 years. I have been paid to work with some wonderful people and it has been a huge gift, to me.”

“What the nation's built on is discussion, contradiction and growth, and at the moment you can't discuss anything. If you do start to discuss it, you get criticized. If people hate us, you have to find out why and try to solve that problem.”

“I just - I love my job. I love doing it. It's a passionate endeavor. And sometimes you can get close to something that you believe is the truth. The truth of something. Not all the time, but sometimes.”

“I don't think I have one iota of cynicism about acting.”

“But even with no money you could still go to places like the Scotch Club and, you know, John Lennon might be sitting right over there, but I was certainly not a part of any of that circle. I was truly peripheral.”

“I love grabbing my wife and going to a distant location to film.”

“I haven't been very good about dealing with disappointment. I suffer it, and then when that suffering becomes a kind of predation, then it's gone. Because the disappointment is not always realistic.”

“Not too much, though there's a certain amount of rancour and bitterness when someone tries to fire you.”