Powers Boothe

“Actors have far fewer choices than the public thinks they do.”

“We all want to pretend that there isn't evil in the world. We all want to pretend that there aren't people trying to take us out and different things like that.”

“If you're down, it's curse; if you're up, it's a blessing.”

“The first 10 years I was a professional actor, I did Shakespeare.”

“I've always felt if you followed a real private detective around, it would be boring.”

“I've been fortunate in my career to have the opportunity to pick and choose the parts I play. I've also been lucky to always be involved with quality actors, quality directors, quality writers.”

“I was raised a proper Southern boy.”

“It's never a matter of career decisions. I don't think in those terms. What matters is whether a role is interesting, if I will enjoy playing it, and if I'm confident I can do a good job.”

“Before I accept a job, I always talk to folks about it. 'Why does he kill these 22 people?' If they say, 'What difference does it make?' I know we have nothing more to talk about. A character has to be three-dimensional.”

“I'm really enjoying the character now, but I don't want to just be Philip Marlowe. I wouldn't mind playing him every couple of years, perhaps, as a kind of open franchise - you know?”

“I got a lot of flak; in Texas, football is not only the social thing you must do, but you do it also to prove your manhood. They all couldn't conceive of why I'd want to stop to do 'The Importance of Being Earnest.'”

“I've always wanted to play a hard-boiled gumshoe, as they say.”

“That joy of a creative environment, without any restrictions, is hard to leave.”

“We're in the business of making films, not striking or anything else.”

“I come prepared when I come to work. Not just knowing the lines, but I think I know something about what I do.”

“When 'Deadwood' came along, it was totally like Shakespeare. The long speeches were like soliloquies. If one phrase of a monologue was out of whack, the entire one-page speech didn't work.”

“If I rob a gas station, I'm going to get 15 years. If I steal $400 million on Wall Street, I start plea-bargaining.”

“I was the first one in the family, on either side, to go to college - much less graduate school.”

“There's something about playing the baddies that people like. They're more fun, and people tend to remember them, particularly if you do them well.”

“I've got a family, and I love them, and I want them to have the best opportunities in the best country in the world, and I think we have to fight for it.”