Top 83 Quotes & Sayings by Justin Theroux
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor Justin Theroux.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
Don't you think it would be great to do a bunch of Nicorette commercials? Just, like, me in the desert, kind of Marlboro Man-style, driving a fast car, pulling over, looking at the sunset. Dissolving in ecstasy. Can't you see it? Me blowing huge Nicorette bubbles.
When was the last time you were super offended? I might be like, 'That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!' Or, 'It's not my thing,' or, 'It was a stupid joke.' But there's such a sensitivity now. Political correctness has become really insidious.
I had this chronic hyperactivity and an inability to focus, so I was forever being moved to another class, with a much smaller group of children - some of them about 18. If I was asked to read a paragraph, this white wall would go up in my head. Still now, I read very slowly and can rarely work out a tip.
Writing is harder than acting. I enjoy acting for just the brevity with which you can be in the experience of doing it. Writing is kind of more satisfying in that you're creating a world and doing something that feels bigger, but it's very time consuming and has a higher threshold for failure.
I'm a big believer that the reception is not the endeavor. And what I enjoy about almost all my work is the endeavor, the doing of something.
If I had to write long-form stuff with descriptions of rooms, it would be so boring for me. I like writing dialogue and jokes and situational stuff.
Acting is a job of permission. Someone has to give you permission to do it. But I have started to be like, 'I only want to do things that I want to do,' and writing has afforded me the luxury.
Certain people want to binge-watch stuff, and they want 10 solid hours of whatever, not realizing that writing 10 hours of quality television is a exhausting experience. Writing an hour and a half is a warm hug compared to writing 10 hours of television.
My grandfather used to write one sentence every day in his journal: 'I love Anne more than ever today.' I think that was his meditation - keeping him in his marriage, and also his appreciation for it. It was very touching.
I think, in life, we're vulnerable, or human beings are vulnerable, or men are vulnerable. I think it's just a question, you know, choosing when you let that mask slip off, which I think all men do - they just usually don't do it in front of people.
Say what you want about superhero movies and how much they make and how much they hurt other movies. I don't buy any of it. I just think they're so good.
If you're satirizing something, you're hitting at something that's real and true, and putting it on its head, and we did that with 'Tropic Thunder.'
I know firsthand how much work has usually gone into a screenplay, so if there's something that rings false or a line that I would think would need a tweak or something, I will think long and hard before I even recommend changing it. In that sense, I'm very faithful to the scripts that I get - if they're good scripts.
I've always found it funny in life when you meet people who are incredibly stupid and incredibly confident at the same time. Actually, there is nothing funnier. I mean, Donald Trump is a perfect example: he's essentially a seven-year-old on a podium.
I can speak passable Mandarin. I will not be translating at the U.N. anytime soon.
Whenever I've done anything where I feel like, 'Oh, it would be smart to do that,' it's always been a mistake. Whenever I do the 'Oh, it would be fun to do that,' it's always paid dividends.
When you're wanting to delve into something, it's the one thing that cable television lets you achieve, in a way where you can have long form. There are no defined chapters. There are scenes, but everything's not bookended by a Chevy commercial.
I've never been shocked by anything on television, except the news.
Fame is something I think happens as a result of trying to do good work. If you're trying to be famous, your work usually suffers.
The best way for guys to communicate is just don't talk to each other for nine hours. That's why I like long motorcycle rides. It's a great way for guys to socialize and not socialize.
I think it's a bad habit for an actor to change scripts because that's not your job. You're not a writer, necessarily - although there are some actors that are good at it.
When you hear about people in the '50s getting married at 20, you're like, 'What were they thinking?' My grandparents were together for over 50 years.
When I was 13, I kind of got into the punk scene. I realized it was easier to wear a pair of combat boots and jeans and a beat-up T-shirt. I think of it as a uniform.
In a weird way, fashion, which is frivolous to the core, shouldn't be taken seriously, but thank God people do: it makes for great people-watching.
I wear boots. I wear jeans and usually just sort of a beat-up T-shirt and a leather jacket. If I bring more leather jackets home, my wife will kill me.
If I was roped into a seven-year TV contract I'd probably hang myself.
Whenever I put on a colored thing, I feel like I'm in a costume. Like when I put on a gray shirt.
Unless you hit your television with a sledgehammer, you're not going to be able to be an individual.
Some of the best movie experiences I've had are when I just walked by the theater and decided to see a movie I hadn't heard anything about and bought a ticket, because that's really the first time you can experience it untainted.
I'd love to be one of those guys who could be like, 'Yeah, it's really exhausting,' but the truth is I'm not method. I don't take roles home.
I think we need to tell stories that reflect our world.
I did Chekhov's 'Three Sisters' once. Two months in, I remember going, 'Human beings shouldn't be forced to do or watch this play every night.' It's so dark and so bottomless.
I always go to bed thinking I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
I can't imagine something worse than scripts being written into a tunnel, thinking, 'I don't know when this ends. I don't know.' It usually ends when people get sick of it, but I think it's great when it gets to end on its own terms.
There's a logic to dreams that doesn't necessarily follow linear narrative. You don't know why things happen, it's your subconscious pushing you, to give you information.
I've always just considered myself a New Yorker, you know.
I'm in New York part of the time and in L.A. part of the time. That's always been a goal, to be bicoastal in a real way.
You can get stuff done in New York that you can't in Los Angeles. If you wanted to get some milk and get your shoes repaired and drop something off at the dry cleaner, that's an all-day adventure in Los Angeles. In New York, you can bang that out in half an hour.
Even to this day, I read things in real time, you know, I don't - like, as if it's being spoken. I can't skim stuff in ways that I know certain people can. I have to sort of hear it in my head to be able to read it.
I wish I owned stock in Nicorette. I love Nicorette. Best invention ever.
If there's a microphone and a couple of Pink tracks, I'll step up. 'Get the Party Started' is a great start to any karaoke.
It's like, once you've seen Tom Hanks win the Golden Globes, the Oscars, you've seen his wife, what kind of car he drives, when you watch his movies, you can't fully get really lost in them.
I was not a great reader. I don't know how to put it any other way.
If you chase fame, you make bad choices. Being famous isn't interesting.
I love New York street style. Guys and girls in New York know how to dress, and I just think it's super cool, you know.
Sure, I considered myself an anarchist; I considered myself - I still am, obviously - distrustful of the government. But I also understand the virtues of civility or democracy and kindness, of course. I wasn't throwing garbage cans through shop windows.
I read a lot for me. But I'm not one of those people who gets 'The New York Times' book review and runs out and buys 10 books and is done with them and passing them out to friends, you know, two weeks later.
I haven't had a chance to pick up a good book in a long time, because I've been either reading scripts or learning them or writing them. And so, by the time the day is done, I usually just want to click on The Bachelor and fall asleep. But I gravitate toward biographies and things like that.
It's the fun part 'cause you don't have any of the real heavy-lifting to do. You just come in and shout and chew scenery, and just be awful and say a few jokes, and you don't have to carry the romantic storyline or the quest part of the story. You just pop up, every now and again.
I had such a distaste for '70s clothing. So, the '90s were a rough period for me because I got made fun of for wearing what they used to call "pegged pants." Now they call them "skinny jeans."
I mean the good thing about Marvel is that they're really good about reading what they call the shareholders - the fans. Because they really are the keepers of what keeps these movies going, you know?
When I was 13, I kind of got into the punk scene. I realized it was easier to wear a pair of combat boots and jeans and a beat-up T-shirt. I think of it as a uniform: Ya know, if you're a Maytag man, you put on your bow tie. I still have T-shirts from when I was that age.
I like all the clichés. I mean, I love someone who lives in Los Angeles - so that's a big draw. But I love the weather. It does feel like a slightly healthier lifestyle, being able to hike and do all that crap.
D.C. is a hard city to grow up in. I couldn't find my footing there. Also, I got a late start academically, and I was dyslexic.
I stole a lot from Gary Oldman. I stole the hairdo from his incarnation of Dracula. We cheated it just enough, so we couldn't get accused of copyright infringement.
I didn't have a lot of ambition, which I think was a good thing. I mean, I was ambitious about quality, but I wasn't ambitious in the "I've got to get a pilot!" way. I never went out to L.A. for pilot season.
I didn't really because I know myself well enough to know that if I actually sit down and think about sort of I can spook myself out like anyone, you know? It's sort of like you've got to sort of jump out of the airplane when you're skydiving. If you spend 20 minutes sitting on the lip you probably won't do it.
I devoured TV - everything from Super Friends in the morning to Dukes of Hazzard and The Love Boat and Fantasy Island at night. I watched it all. There were only four channels, so you could actually consume all of television if you were good at changing the channel.
I love New York. It's kind of perfect. I'm in New York part of the time and in L.A. part of the time. That's always been a goal, to be bicoastal in a real way.
There was a moment, late into the season, where I was noticing I was darkening a little bit at night. I was like, 'It will be nice when the show is over for the season. I need a vacation.'
Related Authors
Arnold Schwarzenegger Quotes
Austrian
Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch Quotes
English
Actor
Bruce Lee Quotes
American
Actor
Clint Eastwood Quotes
American
Actor
Daniel Radcliffe Quotes
British
Actor
Dwayne Johnson Quotes
American
Actor
Jeff Bridges Quotes
American
Actor
Johnny Depp Quotes
American
Actor
Kevin Hart Quotes
American
Actor
Kevin Spacey Quotes
American
Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio Quotes
American
Actor
Rob Lowe Quotes
American
Actor
Robert Pattinson Quotes
English
Actor
Sylvester Stallone Quotes
American
Actor
Will Rogers Quotes
American
Actor
Zach Braff Quotes
American
Actor