Harry Dean Stanton

“I've passed up opportunities. I've avoided the spotlight. I've never been to Academy Awards, didn't relate to them.”

“I know I've got the ability to bring a sense of menace to the screen. I have that specific competence, and it's generally kept me working.”

“I took speech training. I took a few voice lessons in college.”

“Casting is a convoluted kind of trip. No one likes to be typed - even if you're a cab driver, or whatever you do.”

“I've had chances to record albums, which I haven't done.”

“I never liked being ordered around - which, of course, was an overreaction. I eventually found out that I didn't mind being ordered around at all when it was by someone who knew what he was doing.”

“I've received a lot of compliments. People come right up to me on the street. They recognize me.”

“Do nothing. Do nothing. Let it happen. Don't try.”

“I was the classic killer. I always played an angry man. I think it was because I used to really be like that - I was hostile. And because I had a good sense of theatrical truth, I used my anger and rebelliousness and just went with it. Anger was just a part of me.”

“'Pretty In Pink' was a huge hit for me.”

“To put it mildly, I was just a very late bloomer.”

“If I never did another film after 'Paris, Texas,' I'd be happy.”

“I'm tired of playing people who are complete washouts and bums. I don't mind waiting for the good ones to come along. It's like age. It's never bothered me. I've even forgot my birthday. Many times I've wondered if I should tell my real age, but now I think it's an honor, to be doing what I'm doing now at my age.”

“Study up on the Eastern religions. They're the only ones that are realistic. There's no answer, see.”

“I hated being typecast in those roles. It was personally limiting, only playing stereotyped heavies. But I got those roles because I was angry, because that's what I projected. I was angry at my mother and father because they didn't get along, angry at the church. On top of that, I had an extreme lack of self-confidence.”

“I liked 'Repo Man.' Satire.”

“I don't blame anyone but myself for the kind of parts I got. To blame external circumstances is absolute folly.”

“The band I've played with for 10 or 12 years now, we've been all over, but we mostly play in LA.”

“My feeling or philosophy is closer to Taoism and Zen Buddhism, 'cause it's the most practical.”

“'Paris, Texas' gave me a chance to play compassion, and I'm spelling that with a capital C.”