William H. Macy Speaks

A favorite cast? Lisa Kudrow, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and my wife.
William H. Macy

Directors work 10 times harder than anyone else. Get paid a quarter.
William H. Macy

Everyone hooks up with George Clooney. He's a genuinely cool guy. He's using his powers for good.
William H. Macy

I do them all for the money, I really do.
William H. Macy

I got an agent. He said, what do you wanna do, and I said, I want an Oscar nomination. That's your job, that's what I'm paying you for. And I got it.
William H. Macy

I have a tendency to say yes to a script or no to a script. Not yes based on a rewrite.
William H. Macy

I think I've been in situations where they looked at me and just see some rich white guy - they don't see me at all.
William H. Macy

I think theater is powerful. The best experiences I had in the theater are more powerful than the best experiences I had in movies.
William H. Macy

I was a dog in a past life. Really. I'll be walking down the street and dogs will do a sort of double take. Like, Hey, I know him.
William H. Macy

I'll tell you this about the Oscars - they're real.
William H. Macy

I'm a firm believer that character is highly overrated. Character is a trick that we do with the audience's collusion.
William H. Macy

I'm not against watching myself, but I miss a lot of it. I've got two little kids who we don't let watch TV.
William H. Macy

I'm really proud of the writing on Door to Door, and I think that's the Emmy that meant the most - the writing.
William H. Macy

I'm sure I have a process, but it mostly takes place in my dreams.
William H. Macy

If I like the story and it's well written, and it's a character I want to play and they'll pay me, then I decide to do it.
William H. Macy

It started with the Godfather, this operatic violence. I don't know.
William H. Macy

Ninety percent of the preparation we do as actors is just jive. It doesn't do anything.
William H. Macy

Nobody became an actor because he had a good childhood.
William H. Macy

Oh yeah, that's the Holy Grail, Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp, he's the real deal, isn't he? He doesn't get the girl, and he doesn't care.
William H. Macy

Stephen King writes a lot of things that are really charming and quirky, and that are more ironic than horror.
William H. Macy

That red carpet has to be felt to be believed.
William H. Macy

The bar raises as you go.
William H. Macy

The only people who do plays in LA are people who can't get jobs in TV shows.
William H. Macy

The Spirit Awards are great too, they'll say anything because they're not televised. Another great drinking night.
William H. Macy

There are some older women out there who are just knockouts, real beauties, and they're not getting the roles they should.
William H. Macy

We all want to be 20 again and have that first sense of love.
William H. Macy

We must admit that it is quite common that people do have affairs with their leading ladies and men.
William H. Macy

We thought sex was free. Sex is not free. There's a price to be paid emotionally, physically, even legally. Sex isn't a casual thing. It's a huge thing.
William H. Macy

When Fargo came out, I hired a publicist for the first time in my life. I thought, if ever I was going to make it, that was then.
William H. Macy

When I was in New York, I was making a living. We had a summer house and a car that I could put in a garage. That's something for a stage actor.
William H. Macy

When I watch a film I get swept away. I don't really watch the camera.
William H. Macy

Yeah, I made it. It sneaks up on you. You're some schmuck and you wake up one day and you go, Good God, I'm the cheese.
William H. Macy