Top 40 Paul Giamatti Quotes

Well, you know, when people say stuff about you, it’s always really flattering. But does it mean anything to me? It’s not really real to me; there’s no reality to it.

This whole business feels kind of intense, like a bad fit. Round peg, square hole. But whatever, I’ll take it.

I try to avoid people as much as possible. They might change my life!

I definitely had a top-notch education.

I never thought I would have any particular career in movies at all.

Most conspiracies interest me because of the people who are into them, and the lengths they’ll go to expose it or the evidence they think they have. All that stuff. There’s just something so beautiful to me about people who sincerely believe we never went to the moon. It gives me so much joy.

‘Capricorn One’ just seemed like… wow. That was it, y’know? Nothing was ever going to be better than that movie.

I wanted to play Zapruder, as he is a man you really don’t know much about: a faceless, anonymous figure.

I don’t think film actors need training, really, but I needed any help I could get.

The problem with getting injured when you get older is that it takes longer to recover.

I was more used to acting onstage, for a long time. I don’t know, maybe I was temperamentally more suited to stage stuff. And there are things about the stage that I miss in a lot of ways.

I consider myself an atheist. My wife is Jewish. And I’m fine with my son being raised as a Jew. He’s learning Hebrew and is really into it. I will talk to my own son about my atheism when the time is right. But there’s a great tradition of Jewish atheism, there are no better atheists in the world than the Jews.

I’m not a big wine guy. And bars, I never go to bars anymore. It’s such a drag, man.

I would probably choose supporting roles if I had to make a choice. It’s actually a really hard thing to say. It’s all on a role-by-role basis, ultimately. I shouldn’t be so quick to say that. I feel like you’re given greater license to be colorful and eccentric in supporting roles, and that’s interesting to me.

One of my favourite things growing up was ‘Asterix’, those books.

I did a movie called ‘American Splendor’, based on the comic book writer Harvey Pekar.

I really do like a really good science fiction movie and a really good horror movie. Those are the kinds of things I really like. But, I mean, I’m not into sort of like slasher movies. I like a really good science fiction movie, which is hard to do. They don’t make many really good ones any more.

You are absolutely free to describe me as a turtle or something.

I don’t think film actors need training, really.

My father died in 1989 before I knew what I was going to do with my life. I had just graduated from college. My mother died just before ‘Sideways’ came out. She knew I was an actor, but she never saw me become successful.

I was a big ‘Planet of The Apes’ fan, so I was really excited about being in it. I had a really good time. I liked wearing all that stuff, and I liked playing the part.

It’d be disingenuous to say I don’t like attention – I’m an actor for God’s sake – and it’s flattering and all, but attention was never my big goal. I just like to work and have a good time.

I want to be a villain with steel hands or something. I want to be the crazy, world-domination-obsessed villain. I would love to be a Bond villain.

When I did ‘Lady in the Water,’ the most exciting thing to me was to get to work with Bob Balaban – I couldn’t leave the guy alone. I drove him crazy. He’s fantastic and a hilarious guy.

It is because my dad died suddenly that I became an actor. I thought, I’m going to make money doing this thing I enjoy.

I played old men back in drama school. It’s just now that I’m drawing level with the age of the characters I play, but I’m fine with that, and I’ve certainly never envied people who became hugely famous when they were young.

As an actor, to have achieved financial stability is amazing. But I always have this weird fear that I’m not going to get any more work; it’s about not having enough money.

I really only started doing film in ’97. I mean, before then, I just pretty much did theater.

I get tired of myself pretty fast.

In a weird way, I like to find the quirkiness in ordinary things. I like to find what is ordinary in quirky people.

I’ve never not been proud of the work I was doing; I have nothing I have any shame about.

I think one of the great things about acting is the instant gratification: you just get up and start being a part of the story. The immediacy is something you get really addicted to.

Acting can be a really silly thing. It’s like playing dress-up.

Sometimes, I think I may be more recognizable because I’m character-looking.

I have the mentality of a supporting actor.

I don’t mind talking about acting. I don’t have anything interesting to say about it, but it’s interesting talking about it.

I was the youngest child and got a lot more freedom than my brother and sister. I used to wander, doing my own thing under the radar, but I didn’t get in bad, bad trouble.

I find that the crazy narcissists, the selfish loons are often the most fun to be around, weirdly.

Religion features more now in my life than it did when I was a kid – my dad rejected the Catholic church as a young man. I had no religious upbringing, but certainly, Dad was a kind of secular humanist. I don’t know if he was an atheist or agnostic. I regret I didn’t talk to him about it.

There is something pleasurable for an actor to produce something and not be in it.