I was always explaining why my term papers were never on time. I think that’s where I got my acting training!
Talking about corporations – they’re so big. There’s not a person at a corporation.
We all have to lead double lives, not just celebrities. The face we put on publicly with our jobs and certain situations. I think that’s part of the human condition.
It’s not easy to tell a story about writers and make that feel like a complete story and an interesting story.
I’ve always thought Mexico City was incredibly dynamic.
I really don’t make a concerted effort to try to find a type of role. Maybe I’ve just done enough of them now where people are like, ‘Oh, it’s the guy that’s in a swirling vortex of despair, send it to Kinnear!’ I don’t really know, but it does seem to be a recurring theme.
There’s times when I’ll see a show, or something cooking on TV, and think, ‘That can really be fun when it’s working.’ But it’s a grind. I did that at NBC, it was five days a week. I was doing ‘Talk Soup’ and ‘Later’ at the same time. It’s a hard job, more difficult than people realize.
Whenever Hollywood gets involved with real life events, certain liberties have to be taken.
I’m very leery of show business, having been in Los Angeles for the last 10 years. Buzz is a dangerous thing that I’ve heard applied to a lot of people that I’ve since not heard of again.
The automotive corporations, including Ford, I think are in the business of trying to make cars that people will drive.
Same job, whether it’s comedy or drama. Regardless of the weight of the role, I feel like the job is always kind of the same. Who is this person? What’s this guy here, and how is he playing with this thing, and what’s he trying to say? And what’s the volley with all these other people around him?
Most actors are very deeply passionate about their line of work. I suppose there are probably people who sell insurance policies that are passionate about it, but I’m thinking the ratio is a little higher for actors. But, I may be wrong.
If you’re working on a movie, you want it to be projected on the largest tapestry possible, and the sound to be perfect, and for that kind of communal experience of the movies to take place for it.
I don’t think there’s any connection between my journalism career and my film career. They are two totally different mediums and very different skills.
Ultimately, I’m not so sure that, as a person, I’m all that interesting.
Here’s the thing about movies, all movies end up on television. That’s their life. Whether you like it or not, I don’t care how much money you spend on it, or how big or broad the film is, or who the actors are in it, eventually it’s all coming out of the box.
I do give a great deal of forethought and zone in on character and all sorts of things like that. Never before have I just stuffed something away in the back cupboard of my brain because it was just such a crazy concept.
I was just a quiet kid, really. I wasn’t the class clown at all.
I’m a terrible procrastinator. When we go to the airport, if they’re not literally closing the door behind my sweaty, hyperventilating body, I feel I’ve been there too long.
In my sophomore year, a kid told me that the secret to getting women is to play really, really hard to get. I followed his advice, and I didn’t have so much as a date that year.