Words matter. These are the best John C. McGinley Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
My son, Max, was born the day Princess Di died.
The conventional wisdom with David Mamet is, you do not change a word. And that agrees with me. If you want to change any of David’s words, it’s like wanting to change the iambic pentameter in Shakespeare – you should do something else.
I got my Equity card from an audition out of Backstage. We did ‘Guys and Dolls’ and ‘Kismet.’
If you can figure out where you fit into any particular story, you’ll be okay. When you’re not quite sure where you fit in, you try to be too many parts of the story. You gild the lily. I see it all the time.
I knew I wanted to play ‘Dr Cox’ really bad, which is always a huge mistake because as soon as you want something really bad, maybe you rip up a little bit.
Dr. Cox mentors the rookie doctors with a spoonful of dirt and then a cup of sugar. I see him as an archetypal descendent of two of my favorite curmudgeonly characters: Lou Grant and Louie De Palma.
What helps writers, and ultimately, obviously, helps the actors – who should serve the words that the writer puts on the page – is if the character has damages, because then the writers can cultivate and excavate, like a dentist going into a tooth.
On ‘Platoon’ I was offered in 1984 a very tiny part that Ivan Kane would go on to play. Then the financing fell out, and the film was scuttled for two years.
I felt (a) it was a great role and (b) I wanted to stay in town. I wanted to stop going to these four month and five month gigs up in Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver or down in Mexico. I wanted to be around my son, Max. This came along and I was like, ‘I really want to play this guy!’
A lot of things went incredibly well for ‘Scrubs’: from a ridiculous number of downloads on the iPods, to whenever they issue a new season on DVD it kinda sells out, and we got nominated for an Emmy. To be picked up for six years is all gravy, man.
I am a father. My son’s name is Max and my daughter’s name is Billie Grace. Twelve years ago Max was born with Down Syndrome. His journey has been complicated by infantile seizures, sleep apnea, dietary challenges and now, puberty!
The learning curve on soaps is through the roof because it’s a three-camera setup. There’s a master and then there’s two singles. And the great thing about soaps, and soap actors will tell you, is that when you get your line wrong, they don’t re-shoot it. They just cut to the person listening.
If you watch ‘E.T.’ and say that there are holes in the story because this alien lands, then don’t go to the movie! It drives me insane.
I would love to have a photographic memory. It would come in handy with the rants I’m given on Scrubs… often on short notice!
What’s so interesting about ‘Point Break’ to me is that it’s a study of testosterone and adrenaline by a woman. That’s why it’s little more interesting than it should be.
I have no issue with being a character actor. If you’ve been around enough that people are able to segregate you into that category, it means you’re working. So that’s good!
With Shakespeare, if you’re not going to do the iambic pentameter, do some other play.
Turns out, Down syndrome is the most common genetic disorder, occurring once in every 800 births, and no one really knows why it happens. It just does.
TV tends to look for the living equivalents of squeaky-clean Kens and Barbies, but with my dial I’m more like Ken’s dirty old uncle.
I just can’t afford to get bored, because if you’ve been blessed with a generous imagination, which a lot of actors have, to be engaged, to be stimulated, is to liberate your imagination.
You go see ‘Timothy Green,’ and tell me if it doesn’t rock your world. I loved it. I loved every frame of it.
I did an episode of ‘Frasier’ with my friend Kelsey Grammer once.
The idea for actors is to make a living telling stories, so if you can do that, then you’re way ahead of the game.
I’m the wrong person to not be professional around. When someone calls ‘action’ and we’re in the frame together, I’m gonna run you over. You’re gonna get eaten alive.
I got the pilot for ‘Scrubs’ sent to me, and in the margin for Dr. Cox, it said ‘a John McGinley type.’ So when I went in to audition, I said to Billy Lawrence, who’s a dear friend of mine, I said, ‘Well, I’m John McGinley.’
