122 Top Quotes By Joaquin Phoenix

I love having a master. I have no problem serving my director. That's my job. I want to make them happy.

  

I'd see child actors and I'd get so jealous, because they're just completely wide open.

  

I'm vomiting days before I start shooting a new movie.

  

I've never made $20 million. I'm scared. I don't know if you gave me The Ring if I could carry it and bring it to Ozamorph, or whatever you call it.

  

Together, we can make a U.S. Department of Peace into a reality, and leave a gift of peace for generations to come.

  

The footage that you're about to watch of China's dog-leather trade is one of the worst things I've ever seen.

  

That to me was really, certainly, the gateway into discovering John, ... I feel I found the speaking voice through the singing voice.

  

I don't spend most of my life in front of the media.

  

For me, I guess I'm the acting equivalent of somebody that jumps off buildings and parachutes.

  

I don't think one should be comfortable standing on a stage with people applauding and laughing at every stupid thing you say.

  

I'm proud of my brother. I would never not want to be associated with him.

  

I wouldn't feel satisfied being on set every day doing a romantic comedy - I'd be bored to death.

  

I've made up so many stores about my name, I can't remember.

  

I've worked with a lot of people on music and often times those things don't work out.

  

It's an amazing feeling to go into a studio and really be alone.

  

My dissatisfaction with acting has nothing to do with being uncomfortable or vulnerable or feeling like people are going to criticize me. That's not the problem.

  

I love scripts about relationships, and I love to see puppy love evolving into this mature love and communication.

  

I love doing the music. I love programming beats and kind of working on the music as much, if not more, than the actual rapping.

  

I know if I'm lost in the moment or not.

  

I enjoy writing rhymes and sitting alone in a room listening to beats. It's pretty amazing.

  

The offers were, like, a lot of money - maybe not for other actors, but definitely for me. But I don't want that power. I don't want $20-million power.

  

I don't bring my life into a character at all.

Character

  

It's hard for me to put my feelings into words.

  

In every film, whether it's a fictional character or not, you create an idea of the character and for me I always do a bad impersonation to start with.

Character

  

I just I don't feel challenged by acting anymore. I don't enjoy the process anymore.

  

Every single movie that I've ever done has affected my life; I always feel more changed by a character than I affect them or change them, always. I mean, that's just kind of the way it is.

Character

  

There is no need for fur - since there are compassionate alternatives.

  

I didn't know much about him, and I wasn't a big country music fan. I listened to the Beatles and David Bowie, so I didn't know a lot about him.

  

For me, I'd rather have an intense experience than not.

  

How can you work in film and still see the overt racism that exists in film and not just be furious all the time?

  

I like being an employee. I like making somebody happy - and if they're not, then I'm crushed.

  

I don't walk around like I'm a movie star because I don't think of myself as a movie star. People usually don't even notice me.

  

I've always loved hip-hop, since I was a kid, that's the music that I loved. I think everyone of our generation kind of fantasized about hip-hop in some ways.

  

My personal life absolutely goes down the drain when I start working; that's something that I'm incapable of doing.

  

I've been prepping for my role as Medusa.

  

I've been in clubs. I don't like being in an enclosed place with really loud music, and a lot of drunk people. It's not my idea of a good time. It's just such a miserable life.

  

I do like to collaborate, and I like hearing other people, and I like how somebody's performance will affect my own.

  

I don't know a single person in life that doesn't have conflict.

  

I'm like the kid that crams for tests and never remembers anything.

  

I like working all the time. I hate taking breaks. I don't like the weekends.

  

The less someone knows about me, the better, because my intention is to play a variety of characters.

Character

  

I don't have the slightest desire to speak over my dead brother. It gets on my nerves to always be compared with him. My brother was a magnificent person and an outstanding actor.

  

Do I have a large frog in my hair? I have the sensation that something is eating my brain.

  

I don't know why I always get to play these guys who have few redeeming features. But don't knock it. Villains are much more fun.

  

Is it that your dream is unattainable or is it that you have the wrong dream?

  

It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.

  

Whether you think a film will affect society or it's plain entertainment, it's all excellent, it's all noble.

Think

  

You can take that 'I'm an artiste' stuff to the wrong extreme, too.

  

The only reason why I would like to be accepted? Because if your movies don't do well, after a while you don't get to make any more movies.

  

My parents were just searching for an alternative way of raising their children.

  

I feel like everything you learn as an actor growing up is wrong. You're supposed to hit your mark, find your light and know your lines. Those are all things that just make things wooden, dull and boring.

  

When I look back I can't believe how my parents managed, but the cliche is true. We didn't have money, but we were rich in so many other ways.

  

I guess I had what you could call an unconventional upbringing.

  

You see so many earnest characters in movies all the time, everyone has a purpose.

Character , Time

  

Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention.

Music

  

I would try and sing along with bands that I like but it sounded so atrocious that I couldn't.

Like , Trying

  

In every film, whether it's a fictional character or not, you create an idea of the character and for me I always do a bad impersonation to start with.

Character , Me

  

Going out on a stage publicly and not knowing how people are going to react to you - once I experienced that, it made me feel much more comfortable about going into a scene.

Me

  

I wouldn't feel satisfied being on set every day doing a romantic comedy - I'd be bored to death.

  

Every movie soaks into you for a certain amount of time.

Time

  

With public figures involved in a relationship it seems that there is a machine behind their love so oftentimes.

Relationship

  

I don't bring my life into a character at all.

Character , Life

  

I know if I'm lost in the moment or not.

  

My music is going to be true. I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something, and it's what I feel.

Music

  

I don't know a single person in life that doesn't have conflict.

Life

  

I'd see child actors and I'd get so jealous, because they're just completely wide open.

  

I love having a master. I have no problem serving my director. That's my job. I want to make them happy.

  

There was a time when I read a script and I just got excited about the possibilities.

Time

  

Well, I haven't signed anything giving people the right to do anything they want with my image, you know what I mean. I have the ultimate say.

  

When I decide to do something, I stick with it, total commitment.

  

I'm not technical.

  

I just I don't feel challenged by acting anymore. I don't enjoy the process anymore.

  

I've worked with a lot of people on music and often times those things don't work out.

Music

  

Well, I think that you know, I threatened myself with quitting after every movie. But I think everybody does that, right?

Think

  

I don't think one should be comfortable standing on a stage with people applauding and laughing at every stupid thing you say.

Think

  

I think the day that I become comfortable doing interviews and going on talk shows is the day that I don't know what it is to be a human being anymore.

Think

  

I don't really make movies because I want to see my face on a billboard or because I want to get good reviews or have a big box office. That doesn't really matter to me at all.

Me

  

The reason I keep making movies is I hate the last thing I did. I'm trying to rectify my wrongs.

Trying

  

I'm vomiting days before I start shooting a new movie.

  

I don't walk around like I'm a movie star because I don't think of myself as a movie star. People usually don't even notice me.

Me , Think

  

I enjoy humour more than anything, I don't really sit around banging my head and crying all the time.

Time

  

I don't know why I always get to play these guys who have few redeeming features. But don't knock it. Villains are much more fun.

  

I feel an obligation to set the record straight. Actors that say they're affected by something, that it changes their life, that they take it home with them, they're just trying to get nominated for an Oscar!

Life , Trying

  

I still think that movies are amazing; I respect actors and directors.

Think

  

I've always loved hip-hop, since I was a kid, that's the music that I loved. I think everyone of our generation kind of fantasized about hip-hop in some ways.

Music , Think

  

I've always loved music, but I never really played anything. After 'Walk the Line' and learning to play guitar, and having that sense of performing, I think that certainly opened the door for me, for music.

Me , Music

  

I don't spend most of my life in front of the media.

Life

  

I didn't know much about him, and I wasn't a big country music fan. I listened to the Beatles and David Bowie, so I didn't know a lot about him.

Music

  

When I go out with the ladies, I don't force them to pronounce my name. I tell them I like to go by the nickname of Kitten.

  

It's hard for me to put my feelings into words.

Me

  

No, I don't want to talk about River. I have nothing to say about it that I would want to be public.

  

Acting is real important to me. I love it, and it's something I care about.

Me

  

For me, I guess I'm the acting equivalent of somebody that jumps off buildings and parachutes.

Me

  

In most films - especially in regards to the protagonist - really from the get-go they set up some scenario that endears that character to the audience. Or imbues him with some nobility or heroism or something.

Character

  

I becan acting when River was doing this TV series and they needed two kids for the show, so they got me and my little sister, Summer, to do it. After that I did some really weird guest spots with orangutans and stuff.

Me

  

I've made up so many stores about my name, I can't remember.

  

I loved hip-hop. The first stuff I heard was Public Enemy, and I couldn't believe it. It was amazing, and I've always loved hip-hop.

  

Things are rarely as exciting or dramatic as we make them out to be in the press.

  

You're always thinking, What's the next move - the career, the money.

  

Once I became a total buffoon, it was so liberating.