A Quote by Matt Dillon

I think anytime you can do something you haven't seen or done in a film before, it's always a great day as an actor. — © Matt Dillon
I think anytime you can do something you haven't seen or done in a film before, it's always a great day as an actor.
With each project, I'm going for something that makes viewers think, 'Wow, I've never seen a film like this before,' and later think, 'Wow, I've only seen a film like this once before. I saw it in theaters and am watching it now on Netflix or a similar streaming service.'
Nobody ever starts out to make a mediocre, commercial film. You always think it's going to be something. And then, once you're done with your shooting, you have no control. You're just done, as an actor.
Anytime you actually finish a film, I think it's a success. And to have that film seen and liked by audiences is the ultimate.
There's one thing better than having a great actor, and that's having a great actor who's never done this kind of role before and is hungry to do it. They're testing themselves every day. They want to get out of their trailer and get to work.
There's a freedom there and an understanding of my career and the things I've done. I'm seen here as primarily a comic actor, which is OK, but I can go to New York and I do something that's very emotional. It would be lovely at some point to do something like that on film.
I think anytime you can show different colors and portray something that you haven't had a chance to do is always really refreshing as an actor.
In film, I don't think I'd try directing. Maybe one day, but I'd certainly want to go to film school or something before I tried to do something like that. That would be quite scary.
'The Restraint of Beasts' is a painful subject. We'd shot 60% of the film when I had to stop. The material looks great, like nothing I've ever done or even seen before. It could have been really great, definitely original.
I'm so excited about 'Shattered;' it's something I've really enjoyed working in, and it's very different from anything I've done before. I've always been a character actor and done a lot of support work. I've never really been the lead actor, so I'll try and use what I've learned along the way from the other projects.
I suppose the underlying current for me is the idea of not doing something I've done before. I call myself a character actor and I'm always trying to stay a character actor.
Being an actor in TV or movies is different. A film or TV actor, if put in theatre, won't know certain dimensions, while a theatre actor won't know certain things when he comes before the camera. So I think a film actor can learn emoting from this theatre counterpart, while the theatre actor can learn about camera techniques from the film actor.
It's really nice to be able to do something that you've never done. I think that's the gift of being an actor because I get to play a cop, a racist cop and I've never done that before. It's nice to inhabit these other worlds especially when you get to work with great actors.
I saw this film Moon, it's directed by Duncan Jones, David Bowie's son. Sam Rockwell plays this astronaut that is stuck in a space station on the moon. You just have to see it. It's easy to do something really cheesy with sci-fi, and to do something that's already been done, but I think the story was something I hadn't heard before, so it was really great.
The thing is, if people get it right away, I just don't think you're making art. I think you're making something they're comfortable with. You have to challenge people. You know, it has to be new. It has to be something they haven't seen before. Just bring them something they haven't seen before. They aren't going to love it right away because they haven't seen it before. So they have to take a minute, you know?
It's only when a project or film doesn't work, that you think about what you could have done differently - whether you chose unwisely, or was there something in your application in that role, as an actor, as a director or as a producer, that you could have done better.
When you start on a new film, no matter how many you've done before that, I think I've done close to 80 films, but it's always kind of a fun adventure.
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