Denis Leary Quotes

One sign of a great actor is when he can be alone by himself on the screen, doing almost nothing, and producing one of a film's defining moments.

I guess I'm just good at playing repressed individuals. I'm lucky because those are often the roles that catch people's eyes.

Ultimately, physical resemblance isn't as important as whether this person can bring this character to life in a way that's compelling and makes me care about what happens to them.

I would absolutely love to do something with Viola Davis or Meryl Streep. I just think both of those women fall so deep into their characters that you are no longer looking at the actresses, you are looking at the characters they embraced.

I adore actors/actresses that have range: someone that can transform into a character that is far beyond who they truly are. Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp are amazing at this.

You hope to see an arc of growth in your ability to become a character on television.

Daniel Day-Lewis is extraordinary; I think he may be one of the best actors ever that we've worked with.

There's an actor in the TV show 'Prison Break,' Robert Knepper, who plays a violent sociopath, and he's just incredible in that role.

It was so easy for me to see that Anthony would be a superb Dr. Lecter because he had been such an amazing good doctor in 'The Elephant Man'. He had been as believable a doctor as you can imagine, and he was good.

I can usually play polarizing characters.

I saw Gosling just kill it in 'Blue Valentine.' I thought he was just amazing at that, and I wouldn't mind maybe doing something like that.

You've got to bring yourself to any character you do.

I wanted to get the opportunity to do what actresses do: play the inside of a person.

'Hester Street' was my most complete character study, but 'Annie Hall' and 'The Last Detail' were also great.

All I know is it was incredible watching Robert Downey Jr. bring Chaplin to life. Talk about weight-lifting!

I love Ben Affleck. I think he will be a great Batman. Ben can bring the humanity to all his parts. He can play the good guy, the bad guy, but behind that grin he's got, there is always that humanity.

All good actors are actresses. The more like a woman they are, the better they act, because a man's salvation is his femininity. Women have stronger sensibilities than men, which allows them to go a bit deeper when they are on and off the stage.

Acting, according to me, gets better with time and age. The more experiences you have in life, the more you have seen, the better equipped you are to deal with complexity and bring out the depth in characters.

I have absolutely no problem on doing a negative character. If that matches up to my acting caliber, I will definitely do that.

Claire Danes in 'Homeland' just blew me away. She is so intuitive, and her choices are so unique. When you see somebody like that work, you just have to stop in your tracks. It is a lesson in what good acting really is, and it is so inspiring to be around.

I like to play non-cardboard characters. I try and bring out the many complex layers in the personality of the characters I play.

Even great actors who transform who they are still go to a really honest place; I think that's sort of that special skill that actors have.

I was blown away watching Michael Keaton act because he was such a maniacal, evil person on set. He takes on a totally different life, and it was so amazing to watch him work.

I like doing stuff that is sad or angry. It's a challenge, because you're doing a mix of scenes and you're making a person.

Brad Pitt has something about him to where he's played different characters in all his movies, and every single time after he's done, I want to be him.