All my life I’ve had the privilege to make my living with my imagination, and the most important thing has been to see my creative life grow. I was educated to do that and have lived accordingly.
I don’t get it. If you’re saying, Tommy Lee, you don’t fit the image of the East Coast, social elitist wealthy people who comprise Harvard, the only thing I can say is you have no idea what comprises Harvard.
Cormac McCarthy’s language is perfect. He is in my view the greatest living American prose stylist.
Human beings are glorious and preposterous characters.
I don’t analyze things like titles.
What appeals to me? There are things, points of view, uses of the language, habits of dress, ways of thought and believing that came to me from my grandparents and came to them from theirs. Things that are of good use in any situation, no matter what the future may hold.
I’ve worked with more than 50 directors and I’ve paid attention since day one. That’s pretty much been my education, apart from studying art history and shooting with my own cameras. I’ve seen 50 different sets of mistakes and 50 different ways of achieving.
I look upon pride as a sin.
I’ve worked with some very good directors and some very bad ones. I learned a great deal from both. From the bad, untalented people, you learn what not to do. And when you work with very highly talented people, you want to emulate them.
I’m a believer in belief. Faith is something that works – it causes people to do things, it has results. It’s an intangible, indefinable, very real thing. And it moves people, sometimes to atrocity. And sometimes to survival.
I don’t see people as groups, I see them as individuals.
I think any stereotyping is too much.
Normal people with normal problems can be hilarious.
Acting is fun for me and it doesn’t really matter how, whether it’s hard work or easy work, it’s always fun.
Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.
Meryl Streep does not make mistakes. Sometimes the world just can’t keep up.
I know a lot of cowboys and I’ve done a little work on ranches with cattle, and those people become your friends, and keep their word.
Age will flatten a man.
No, I don’t think about the myth of the West. It’s not the kind of thinking I do. That’s more suited to people who live in big towns on the West Coast or East Coast, people who stay under a roof, in a room, all the time.
I haven’t a clue if there is life on other planets but I’d be charmed if we found a unicellular organism on Mars. It would change our whole concept of life on Earth.
It makes me feel like a very special person, that I’m able to make my living with my imagination. I developed a big respect for my calling while I was in school, and it remains with me to this day.