John Landis Quotes

I think it's always hard to find great roles, no matter what age you are. So I always say to people, 'You have to remember that Hollywood is in the business of making movies that they can sell tickets to; they're not in the business of finding great roles for actors.'

I would love to act in films if people think I am right for a particular role.

Dramas for me are where it's at, but a great drama, a great character-driven drama, there's very few of them that get made; there's very few of them that actually make it to theaters. There's just very few of them.

I don't want to be in the film business. I'm not even sure it's a business.

When you work for Bruckheimer, you don't get it any better. He's the ultimate producer. I've had the good fortune of working with some great producers over the years.

In my first film, Five Corners, I played a very scary, violent crazed character, and it exposed me to a lot of directors.

We were shooting for 'Aiyyaa' in Yash Raj studios, and I got an offer for 'Aurangzeb.' That's the only time I went for an audition.

I work primarily for the camera-it's not something I really talk about a lot, but it's part of the way I am as a movie actor. The camera is my girl, as it were.

The film business is absurd. Stars don't last very long. It's much more interesting to be a proper actor.

Occasionally I will audition for a big overseas movie, but that's it.

You need supporting actors to help to tell the story. For me, I'm lucky to be a part of the films. Being an actor, I'll take any role, whether it's supporting or leading.

I think a lot of Hollywood is in retreat right now trying to figure out how to make money and make the safest bets.

I knew at the time that that wasn't the part I would be doing, they just wanted a screentest so they could have a look at it to show to the directors and producers. Then they wrote a part for me or maybe they already had it in mind, I don't know.

It's a roll of the dice in the movie business. I mean, every single movie is a roll of the dice. Any movie on paper could look like it's going to be fantastic. You know what I mean?

'The Fight Club' DVD is great. I like anything that has really good extras because as an actor, it's really great to see the behind-the-scenes stuff and see how different actors approach their particular project.

I grew up in L.A., and I worked for 'The Hollywood Reporter.' I knew enough about the business to know that the usual role of the author on a movie is to get out of the way and not say anything.

The way Hollywood works, you're never sure if their first thought is to make a great film and honor the material or just another business property.

While more great films are being made every year, it is increasingly difficult to get indies into theaters or on TV.

I got into acting to get my foot in the door for film-making.

The average movie-goer in this country sees six films in a year. That's one every two months. What the studios are trying to do is make sure it's their movie.

I did 'Gangs of New York' with Martin Scorsese, and they used to call me 'Little Joe Pesci' on the set.

Films are really cool because, every couple months, or however many times you can get a job because there's a lot of luck involved in that, you're playing a different character.

I didn't even understand the whole idea of Hollywood.

The great thing about films is that you have access to this whole world of experts who teach you the skills your character's supposed to have.

The minute you start the process of deciding to make a film and you're communicating that vision to anyone, you're in the process of selling. If you don't understand that, you're not in show business. You're just not.