Top 40 Quotes & Sayings by Richard Jenkins

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor Richard Jenkins.

Last updated on December 21, 2024.

Richard Dale Jenkins is an American actor and comedian. He began his career in theater at the Trinity Repertory Company and made his film debut in 1974. He has worked steadily in film and television since the 1980s, mostly in supporting roles. His first major role did not come until the early 2000s, when he played deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series Six Feet Under (2001–2005). He is also known for his roles in the films Burn After Reading (2008), Step Brothers (2008), Let Me In (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), The Shape of Water (2017), The Last Shift (2020), and The Humans (2021).

American - Actor | Born: May 4, 1947

Source: Wikipedia

Any time you die in a film, it's not real, so it's all kind of fun.

Richard Jenkins

When I go to the movies, I want to see a human being dealing with their lives. That's all I ask.

Richard Jenkins

Rehearsal for film is tough. Until the camera's there, everything changes.

Richard Jenkins

Losing a parent makes you realize how temporary everything is - you're looking through someone's whole life in a drawer, and they're very simply gone.

Richard Jenkins

When I was about 12, I came home from middle school and told my parents I wanted to be an actor. My father didn't say it to me, but he told my mom, 'No. I'm not going to allow that. He'll starve to death.' I grew up in a small town in Illinois where being an actor was not something people did.

Richard Jenkins

There are so many things that go into a movie that it's amazing that anything gets made anyway.

Richard Jenkins

But I loved making 'Eat Pray Love,' and I loved working with Julia Roberts.

Richard Jenkins

A Western would be good. I'd love to do a Western.

Richard Jenkins

I always loved movies. I wanted to be in them! I always saw them and said, 'How do you do that?' It seemed like going to the moon. It was not a rational thought, but that's the only thing I wanted to do.

Richard Jenkins

The truth is you only have yourself to offer. And when you come to that realization, it's terrifying, because you think it's probably not enough.

Richard Jenkins

Sometimes you read things that people don't even notice in a performance, that you just are moved by or understand that this actor is really living his or her life on the screen. The first time I realized that was when I watched Brando in 'On the Waterfront.'

Richard Jenkins

I love it when a director says, 'I don't know.'

Richard Jenkins

If I'm playing a bad guy, and I'm playing him evilly - I'm making him evil; I'm being evil because I want the audience to understand that he's bad - or if I have a line that's funny, I do it in a comedic way, that, to me, is a lie. It's dead when I watch it.

Richard Jenkins

There's a lot of jobs that you can do that you can be miserable at. Making movies should not be one of them.

Richard Jenkins

I like relaxed sets. I like to feel that I can make a mistake without feeling like I'm costing somebody money. I like a sense of freedom. I like it when people are open and are willing to let you do your work.

Richard Jenkins

I like not knowing what's around the corner. It's always been that way, and maybe that's one of the reasons why I'm an actor.

Richard Jenkins

Sometimes, I can read a great script, and I don't like the part, or I don't think I'm right for it. I mean, there are times I've read really great parts and think there's so many other actors who could do this better than me. And I just say no to it.

Richard Jenkins

It's like, in movies where you talk to the audience 90 percent of the time, it's - you kind of want to stay away from that stuff. But, you know - but to write exposition brilliantly is hard.

Richard Jenkins

There's nothing like walking onto a Hollywood sound stage.

Richard Jenkins

I can't think of a lot of bad directors I've worked with, really.

Richard Jenkins

I worked with Mike Nichols. First time I worked with Mike Nichols, I just really loved this man.

Richard Jenkins

When I was a kid, I loved horror films. I used to stay up on Saturday night to watch.

Richard Jenkins

I don't watch the dailies. You want to just turn in your resignation when you watch the dailies.

Richard Jenkins

We all have movies for times in our lives when we really need something.

Richard Jenkins

When there is tension, arguments and money problems, it's tough to do your work. Some people thrive on that. I don't.

Richard Jenkins

'My character wouldn't do that.' That was always my favorite thing people say: 'My character wouldn't do that.' I said, 'Well, it says right here in this script your character does that.'

Richard Jenkins

There's a lot of great directors that I want to work with, but as soon as I mention them, I never get a chance to work with them.

Richard Jenkins

In college, I was teetering on the edge: Do I want to be an actor? Do I not want to be an actor? And then I saw Michael Caine in 'Alfie,' and I thought, 'Wow, that's what I want to do with my life,' even if I knew I'd never reach that level of proficiency.

Richard Jenkins

I was an only child, and I spent a lot of time alone. My dad was an only child, too, so we didn't have a big family, and I was really close with both of my parents. Like any kid, I thought I knew more than they did.

Richard Jenkins

I'd like to play the whale in 'Moby Dick.' If I keep eating, I may end up getting there.

Richard Jenkins

I understand being alone. I understand not liking it, wishing for something else.

Richard Jenkins

You find movies when you need them. They may not always be the best films, but they speak to you.

Richard Jenkins

I don't consider myself a comedian, but you work with some comedians, and sometimes these guys are incredible on their feet - it's just amazing - and that's not what I do. But it's always fun, and I don't really care as long as the character is interesting.

Richard Jenkins

Life is too god damn short and you can't waste a minute of it.

Richard Jenkins

Nobody feels like an adult. It's the world's dirty secret.

Richard Jenkins

The main thing on film is you want to be innocent to the moment.

Richard Jenkins

You never know if it's any good until people respond to it. You know how it feels when you do it, but there's so many things involved. The thing you do realize is, if the movie isn't any good, then it's your fault. That's what you think about.

Richard Jenkins

The end comes, no matter what. The only thing that matters is, how do you want to go out, on your feet or on your knees?

Richard Jenkins

Without social identity, there is, in fact, no society.

Richard Jenkins

But I loved making Eat Pray Love, and I loved working with Julia Roberts.

Richard Jenkins