I just like surprising people. I never want to get to a place where people see that I am in a movie and they go see the movie and they expect a certain performance one way or the other. That is just inherently boring to me. – John C. Reilly
This is real human drama, we’re not creating some amusement park ride for the summer. Even though the movie is really exciting to watch, it’s got a real pathos behind it. – John C. Reilly
I know I’m not some matinee idol, but I think we’re sold this bill of goods by the media, which says that only the most beautiful and dashing people can become movie stars. So when someone like me sneaks in, they have to redo the calculations. – John C. Reilly
I always felt really guilty if I spent too much time playing video games. It’s a colossal waste of time. And I can’t say it’s a very satisfying feeling at the end of the day, if you’ve spent eight hours playing a video game; you just end up feeling kind of spent, and used. – John C. Reilly
Acting’s all about the confidence you exude, especially on film. I mean, nervousness isn’t attractive in anyone, but a film camera will seek it out and punish you. – John C. Reilly
I try to take things that challenge me either physically or mentally, or I have to learn a new skill. – John C. Reilly
Animation is a great way to work. No early morning call times, no make-up chair. In live action, you’re always fighting the clock; the sun is always going down too soon. – John C. Reilly
I don’t mind doing scripted material. It’s actually kind of a relief, because improvising is a little bit like screenwriting on your feet. – John C. Reilly
I like people who are able to keep pushing themselves and challenging themselves even after great success. – John C. Reilly
God forbid you got seasick because there was no option to go back. So that really did force us to be a group. – John C. Reilly
I would consider directing. I think directing myself would be tough, but I’m definitely interested in directing. I might start off directing a play before I move to a film. – John C. Reilly
It’s thought of as an eccentric thing for an actor to really try to maintain quality control through the whole career. Most people think, ‘You just work. You just keep working.’ And in some ways I wish I could be a guy who’s just a workhorse. – John C. Reilly
There is a level of fame that is really unmanageable. But most of the people who experience that level of fame are compensated in other ways. Private villas and chauffeured boats. – John C. Reilly
To me, it doesn’t make any sense to pick your work based on the size of the budget of the movie. – John C. Reilly
I am one of those people who is not very patient in the makeup chair. I have been offered movies like ‘Planet of the Apes’ and stuff like ‘The Grinch Who Stole Christmas’ and I turned them down. – John C. Reilly
I went to an all-boys Catholic school, and not only were we not allowed to wear pajamas, we had to wear dress shirts, dress pants, a tie, dress shoes… they stopped making us wear blazers, like, two years before I started there, so pajamas… you wouldn’t even get in the front door wearing pajamas at my school. – John C. Reilly
I come from a pretty working-class neighborhood in Chicago. Hard work was just expected of you. It wasn’t some noble thing you did; it was a prerequisite. It’s what a man did. You get up, you put on your boots, and you work hard. We’ve lost a lot of that, I’m afraid. – John C. Reilly
I grew up listening to a lot of player-piano music in my house and a lot of old Tin Pan Alley songs and American standards. My dad listened to a lot of traditional Irish music and I grew up doing musical theater. So most of the music I was exposed to as a kid was pre-rock n’ roll. – John C. Reilly
I don’t deliberately go into comedy or go into indies, but I do deliberately try to keep changing tact, because I think that is the key to longevity in a career. – John C. Reilly
There’s something about the water – that solitary kind of peaceful feeling. You’re on Earth but not quite. – John C. Reilly
Actually, acting turned out to be the perfect job for me, because I had a lot of different interests. I thought about being a priest at one point. I thought about being a teacher. I thought about being a lawyer. But I think acting is probably the best job for me. – John C. Reilly
Whatever the reasons that I turn things down, I’m always happy when there’s a good result, and I can enjoy it as a movie, you know? I don’t feel like, ‘Oh man, that was really good. I should have done it.’ You have to make the decisions you have to make, whether it has to do with your family or repeating a character or whatever it is. – John C. Reilly
My family are all storytellers, and I think I inherited a lot more of that gene than other people in my family. I guess I was fun to have around. – John C. Reilly
I did a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, and his skill level was eons ahead of mine. It was really more like an abattoir – he just slaughtered my character over and over again. – John C. Reilly
The truth is that filmmaking is not really an actor’s medium; it’s really a director’s medium, so all I can really control is the character that I’m playing. So I try to look for characters that are interesting and engaging and different than what I’ve done before and hopefully it becomes a good movie. – John C. Reilly
Oh, absolutely, it felt more serious than your typical job. One of the things that got us through how difficult the shooting actually was was that we are telling a real story. – John C. Reilly
I listen to a lot of Chicago blues, I suppose. It reminds me of growing up, I guess. But I’m also obsessed by close-harmony groups. Actually, I’m fascinated particularly by brother duos, how they blend together. The Everly Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, The McQuarrys. There’s something inherently magical about harmony. – John C. Reilly
