Top 20 Bill Paxton Quotes

I think I got an Instamatic camera when I was 8 years old, and ever since then, I’ve liked to record things. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just to kind of try to leave some kind of record behind.

There’s something about being at the tournaments that you don’t really get on TV, although golf is a great sport to watch on television.

I got to direct a human interest sports drama – to this day, one of my proudest achievements in my career and a source of undying pride.

I’ve always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie.

I’ve had a life where things have worked out for me beyond my wildest dreams, and my brother’s had just the opposite.

I hate tests. It’s a really lousy way to judge a person’s ability.

In the old days the studios guided your career. Now it’s all up to you.

You don’t really get to pick and chose what you would like to be doing. But I’ve been very fortunate, and I think water seeks its own level. You do gravitate towards things that you would get off on.

I didn’t have a normal background – I was completely demented from a very early age!

I’m actually really opposed to the death penalty.

I grew up in Texas, but that was 20 years ago. Last year, in Fort Worth, they had hail the size of softballs. We’re seeing more and more powerful storms, of all types, almost on a biblical level.

What’s been nice is that I’ve been able to direct from a very idealistic place. I’ve never had to make my living as a director, which gave me a chance to choose material I feel passionate about. The directing allows me to not have to grab any acting role that comes along. I can pick and choose a little bit.

I’ve had a career that is kind of under the radar, but it sure is varied, and I’ve been so blessed to be able to get paid to do something I love to do.

It’s very liberating to be naked in front of a hundred people, but there’s nothing sexual about lovemaking on a movie set.

I don’t care how much hardware you throw at an audience. If they are not emotionally invested in the thing, it’s zero. I can name a slew of films, but I have no ax to grind. I understand the commerce of Hollywood probably better than anyone.

Since I was a small boy, I was always around the game. I don’t play golf much myself, but I love watching it. My father has played golf all his life.

My first film was a movie shot in 1974. I was 18 on that movie set. It was called ‘Big Bad Mama.’ I turned 19 on the next movie I worked on, which was a black ‘Blazing Saddles.’ I worked in the art department. It was called ‘Darktown Strutters.’

Growing up in Texas and Oklahoma, Ben Johnson was more famous than John Wayne to some of us. I knew him. I worked with him on a low budget film years ago, and we’d sit around at night while waiting for a shot.

My father always read obituaries to me out loud, not because he was maudlin or morbid, but because they were mini biographies.

It’s become very popular in contemporary films to have the twist ending.