Anybody can call me Jamie, and you have to watch it when you call me James. Then there’s going to be a problem.
My definition of a character actor is – they never get the girl.
The attitude we have towards our personal pets as opposed to the animals that suffer under the factory farm is hypocritical and delusional.
I always change my words in everything I do. I make the language fit, because I know the character from the inside out. Often character actors are not in a position to do that, but I do it. I don’t change any cue and I never change anybody else’s lines, but I make my own words fit my mouth.
I started in theatre. I was at Cleveland and I went to London for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth.
It’s a wonderful thing as time goes by, to be with someone who looks into your face when you’ve gotten old and still sees what you think you look like.
But if you really want to learn about life, get a cat. The way I think people should relate to animals is with a cat. Because the world is his.
When I did ‘Babe’ I wanted to talk about animal rights without going through some convoluted justifications about using animal products.
I play an 89-year-old man whose wife has Alzheimer’s in a movie called ‘Still.’ I play a World War II veteran, I acted with my son and it’s called ‘Memorial Day.’
I have a film called ‘A Lonely Place For Dying,’ which is the most watched film on the Internet, over 3 million hits, more than any of Hollywood’s films.
My friends joke because I will take my clothes off, at the drop of a hat.
Jamie’ is what my mother gave me, and that takes the onus off of being big. Somebody thinks, ‘Oh, Jamie – how threatening can he be?
I say a lot of things I shouldn’t say.
I auditioned for ‘Revenge Of The Nerds,’ and I so did not want the picture. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want be in anything that had nerds anywhere.
There are reasons to have rules and regulations. That I understand. Authority is a different thing. Authority is to maintain its own position by increasing its power and domination over those people it is supposedly protecting.
The last part of life is a spiritual concern. You need to find a context to put your life into, that will allow you to go through it with as much grace and balance as possible, even if there is rebellion and adventure and exploration and resistance.
Authority is the assumption that someone else knows better than you.
I don’t look like a leading man, whatever they look like. It’s changing a little.
The person is a mystery. What I’m playing is the person so I really get to tell you and show you and communicate to you who I think the real person is and that real person is me. The most important thing is to play the human being you are creating, which is my job.
Studios are run by those who are way too old or mostly young, who don’t think creatively.
Every day is perfect because there’s no other day! As a friend of mine said, “Ride the horse in the direction it’s going.” When you do that, you realize that every moment, every breath, every sound, every encounter is a gift. You bloody well better enjoy it.