Top 18 Quotes & Sayings by William Sadler

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor William Sadler.
Last updated on April 21, 2025.
William Sadler

William Thomas Sadler is an American stage, film, and television actor. His television and motion picture roles have included Chesty Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption, Senator Vernon Trent in Hard to Kill, Death in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and Bill & Ted Face the Music, and Colonel Stuart in Die Hard 2. He played Matthew Ellis in Iron Man 3, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and WHIH Newsfront. He also recurs as John McGarrett in the 2010 remake of the 1968 television series Hawaii Five-O, and the Boston boxing promoter and suspected drug dealer Gino Fish in the Jesse Stone television film series, opposite Tom Selleck, as a small-town police chief, he also played Don in the 1992 movie Trespass starring Ice Cube, Ice-T and Bill Paxton.

I think good acting is always character acting.
I think I spent my whole childhood diving out of haylofts with my BB gun and coming out shooting.
You often hear this about directors, how it's like having the best set of toys. This fabulous train set, the biggest box of toys that a kid could possibly have. The best directors look like a kid having more fun than you're supposed to have.
I'm not so bothered by the audition process anymore; in fact, I use it. It's a time for the actor to actually get to the know the director and the producers a little bit, too.
As a director, it became important to hear that specific role read by that specific actor, and you hear the chemistry, or you don't hear the chemistry. So I'm not so bothered by the audition process anymore; in fact, I use it. It's a time for the actor to actually get to the know the director and the producers a little bit, too.
I love doing comedy, and I don't get a chance to much. I get to play lots of serious people, and killers, and people with a lot of... sheriffs. Good people and bad people, but lots of drama, and to get a chance to be genuinely silly is a great treat for me.
I love doing comedy, and I don't get a chance to much. I get to play lots of serious people and killers and people with a lot of... sheriffs.
People quote lines to me all the time. I'm always surprised - everybody has a favorite movie, and they're always different. I'm always shocked. People stop me on the street and throw lines at me from 'Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight' and 'Deep Space Nine.' 'Shawshank' happens a lot because they play it so much on TV.
I guess I would model myself after the Bill Condons, the Frank Darabonts and the David Nutters if I were to direct a feature, which I would love to do, by the way. — © William Sadler
I guess I would model myself after the Bill Condons, the Frank Darabonts and the David Nutters if I were to direct a feature, which I would love to do, by the way.
Maybe I don't take myself quite as seriously as I used to, but the work has gotten better and more interesting, and I'm just having more fun. It's getting more and more fun with each role.
If I have a better idea, I say, 'Can we try one like this?' I try not to step on writers' toes, but ninety-nine percent of the time, it ends up in the movie, and sometimes it's the line that everyone remembers and quotes from the movie.
I enjoyed 'Roswell' a lot, and I had a lot of fun playing Jim Valenti. I had never done a show that lasted as long as that - that one lasted three years. — © William Sadler
I enjoyed 'Roswell' a lot, and I had a lot of fun playing Jim Valenti. I had never done a show that lasted as long as that - that one lasted three years.
It used to annoy and frustrate me to have to come in and audition. I would say to my agents, 'Haven't they seen this film and this film and this film? They know what I look like... They must.' Until I directed an episode of 'Roswell.' And all of a sudden, I realized why that was such an important thing.
Well, I'm a history buff, anyway. I love learning about different periods, especially in American history. I'm a fan.
You often hear this about directors, how its like having the best set of toys. This fabulous train set, the biggest box of toys that a kid could possibly have. The best directors look like a kid having more fun than youre supposed to have.
In theater, there's a lot of discipline involved in doing eight shows a week for a year and a half. It's nice to be able to bring some of that bag of tools with you over to the film world, where you don't have the rehearsal, you don't have an audience. You don't have a month of rehearsal to examine these words, and you meet the guy who's going to play your brother the morning that you shoot the scene. So you need a bag of tools.
When you're in Los Angeles, everybody you meet is writing a movie, and they want you to be in it. Every cab driver is writing a movie!
I don't get a chance to be funny on camera as often as I would like.
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