Jeremy Irons Quotes

I put myself out there; it's part of my job, and I get it: people will attack me. At first I was thrown off, but now I have a pretty thick skin about it.

People don't realise what a nice thing it is for an actor to go to a job where they know or like everybody, because you're so often having to do new beginnings, starting off on set with people you don't know, having to introduce yourself and make friends.

There are hits and misses, and as an actress, we are mentally ready for all that.

I'm usually always a big fan of the people that I'm working with, because I get to work with big people.

Everybody is always going to have haters. It comes with the job. You have to have a tough skin and not let it affect you.

I welcome criticism. I come from a - I wouldn't say mean, but you've got to have tough skin to be in my family.

Ninety percent of my roles, I've had to fight for. It's only a really small percentage of people who get handed roles. But that can be quite scary. The good thing about auditioning is that you get to test yourself and see if you can play this character - you're also auditioning yourself. I enjoy seeing what the chemistry is between the people you might be working with.

I couldn't play off people that I don't personally like.

Actors tend to be quite good at getting on with people. If you’re an arsehole, people don’t want to work with you. You won’t get hired Well, there are a few arseholes.

I'm still in the middle of the transition. I'm still in man-boy mode. And that won't go away for a while. But it's a fun time to be in, because it's very rare that people get to work through this time. It's rare to see a John Cusack in Say Anything. It's rare that you'd find an actor right in the cusp of the child-to adult transition, just got through puberty, just getting into a different way of life. There's few movies like that, and few roles like that, so it's going to be tough to pick and choose. I guess the goal is good people, work with good people.

The fact that there are people who criticize me doesn't mean that people hate me.

You have to realize, when you're a comedian, that you have to have a thick skin. And trust me, being onstage in front of people is already difficult enough. Somebody's personal attack in an email is not as hard as getting onstage.

In 24 years in the movie business, you have a lot of doors slammed in your face, and a lot of people say mean things. Every time, I'm constantly surprised at how the span of time gets quicker that I get okay with it, and I'm over it. That's been an interesting thing to learn.

In my profession you have to be very strong within yourself in order to block out the rejection and block out the opinions and the commentary that happens.

But if you look at the big scheme of things, I have never failed, regardless of anything I have had to go through: from Dallas, to the sharpie, to me getting involved with a debate with my coach, a lot of people look to see my fail.

I've had a lot of failures as well and rejection. As actor, it's actually mostly rejection but people think it's mostly success because they only see your successes - the films that get made.

There were a lot of people on the other side of the field saying, 'Maybe he's doing this, not doing that.' It's good to bounce back the year after and put up some good numbers, so they know that you're a guy who works.

Don’t worry about it. We’re used to being told to go screw ourselves. And that’s from the people who actually like us. You should hear what our enemies say. (Nykyrian)

I remember people saying to us, "You're too nice. Hollywood is going to eat you up and spit you out." I never listened to them.

It might be different for people that are A-list actors, but a lot of us really look at what's offered to us and look for something that has some traction with other people. But, it's not like I read 100 scripts a week, and then pick and choose. Maybe some actors do. I certainly don't do that.

I do what I believe in. I do good work, and the people who appreciate it, fine, and those who don't, fine, that's good.

Movies are hard to make, and you have to work toward a common ethic and do your best. You don't want to work with people who don't care or who are acting out some neurotic, crazy thesis on the set.

I don't know why people say I'm not supposed to be doing what I'm doing. I'm just trying to do my job. I'm blessed, and I'm glad that I'm blessed.

In fact, I learned on the Bill Maher show that I can survive the audience booing at me, the guests hating me, Sarah Silverman mocking me, that I can survive. That's a lesson right there for people on the right.

People who are very confident in themselves aren't hurt by criticism. They make use of it.