Top 35 Justin Theroux Quotes

Acting is a job of permission. Someone has to give you permission to do it. But I have started to be like, ‘I only want to do things that I want to do,’ and writing has afforded me the luxury.

Don’t you think it would be great to do a bunch of Nicorette commercials? Just, like, me in the desert, kind of Marlboro Man-style, driving a fast car, pulling over, looking at the sunset. Dissolving in ecstasy. Can’t you see it? Me blowing huge Nicorette bubbles.

If I had to write long-form stuff with descriptions of rooms, it would be so boring for me. I like writing dialogue and jokes and situational stuff.

Fame is something I think happens as a result of trying to do good work. If you’re trying to be famous, your work usually suffers.

I think, in life, we’re vulnerable, or human beings are vulnerable, or men are vulnerable. I think it’s just a question, you know, choosing when you let that mask slip off, which I think all men do – they just usually don’t do it in front of people.

Writing is harder than acting. I enjoy acting for just the brevity with which you can be in the experience of doing it. Writing is kind of more satisfying in that you’re creating a world and doing something that feels bigger, but it’s very time consuming and has a higher threshold for failure.

I wish I owned stock in Nicorette. I love Nicorette. Best invention ever.

Whenever I put on a colored thing, I feel like I’m in a costume. Like when I put on a gray shirt.

Even to this day, I read things in real time, you know, I don’t – like, as if it’s being spoken. I can’t skim stuff in ways that I know certain people can. I have to sort of hear it in my head to be able to read it.

I’m a big believer that the reception is not the endeavor. And what I enjoy about almost all my work is the endeavor, the doing of something.

I can’t imagine something worse than scripts being written into a tunnel, thinking, ‘I don’t know when this ends. I don’t know.’ It usually ends when people get sick of it, but I think it’s great when it gets to end on its own terms.

I’ve always found it funny in life when you meet people who are incredibly stupid and incredibly confident at the same time. Actually, there is nothing funnier. I mean, Donald Trump is a perfect example: he’s essentially a seven-year-old on a podium.

Whenever I’ve done anything where I feel like, ‘Oh, it would be smart to do that,’ it’s always been a mistake. Whenever I do the ‘Oh, it would be fun to do that,’ it’s always paid dividends.

I wear boots. I wear jeans and usually just sort of a beat-up T-shirt and a leather jacket. If I bring more leather jackets home, my wife will kill me.

In a weird way, fashion, which is frivolous to the core, shouldn’t be taken seriously, but thank God people do: it makes for great people-watching.

I had this chronic hyperactivity and an inability to focus, so I was forever being moved to another class, with a much smaller group of children – some of them about 18. If I was asked to read a paragraph, this white wall would go up in my head. Still now, I read very slowly and can rarely work out a tip.

My grandfather used to write one sentence every day in his journal: ‘I love Anne more than ever today.’ I think that was his meditation – keeping him in his marriage, and also his appreciation for it. It was very touching.

I can speak passable Mandarin. I will not be translating at the U.N. anytime soon.

When you hear about people in the ’50s getting married at 20, you’re like, ‘What were they thinking?’ My grandparents were together for over 50 years.

I always go to bed thinking I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

I’ve never been shocked by anything on television, except the news.

I think we need to tell stories that reflect our world.

The best way for guys to communicate is just don’t talk to each other for nine hours. That’s why I like long motorcycle rides. It’s a great way for guys to socialize and not socialize.

I’ve always just considered myself a New Yorker, you know.

I did Chekhov’s ‘Three Sisters’ once. Two months in, I remember going, ‘Human beings shouldn’t be forced to do or watch this play every night.’ It’s so dark and so bottomless.

When I was 13, I kind of got into the punk scene. I realized it was easier to wear a pair of combat boots and jeans and a beat-up T-shirt. I think of it as a uniform.

Sure, I considered myself an anarchist; I considered myself – I still am, obviously – distrustful of the government. But I also understand the virtues of civility or democracy and kindness, of course. I wasn’t throwing garbage cans through shop windows.

When was the last time you were super offended? I might be like, ‘That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!’ Or, ‘It’s not my thing,’ or, ‘It was a stupid joke.’ But there’s such a sensitivity now. Political correctness has become really insidious.

Certain people want to binge-watch stuff, and they want 10 solid hours of whatever, not realizing that writing 10 hours of quality television is a exhausting experience. Writing an hour and a half is a warm hug compared to writing 10 hours of television.

I was not a great reader. I don’t know how to put it any other way.

I read a lot for me. But I’m not one of those people who gets ‘The New York Times’ book review and runs out and buys 10 books and is done with them and passing them out to friends, you know, two weeks later.

Say what you want about superhero movies and how much they make and how much they hurt other movies. I don’t buy any of it. I just think they’re so good.

I’m in New York part of the time and in L.A. part of the time. That’s always been a goal, to be bicoastal in a real way.

When you’re wanting to delve into something, it’s the one thing that cable television lets you achieve, in a way where you can have long form. There are no defined chapters. There are scenes, but everything’s not bookended by a Chevy commercial.

If there’s a microphone and a couple of Pink tracks, I’ll step up. ‘Get the Party Started’ is a great start to any karaoke.