Jonah Hill Quotes

It's fun to play someone who seems evil and to reveal their vulnerabilities.

I suppose that the sympathetic/unsympathetic debate about characters sometimes feels to me like a misstatement of purpose. I always think of truly complex characters are falling between the cracks in that debate.

I get to play characters that kind of shock people and I enjoy doing that. I like characters that have meaning and get people in the heart. I want to be able to get people to cry or make people angry or sad.

I'm attracted to playing people who aren't necessarily straightforward.

Virtue is not photogenic, so I liked playing bad guys. But, whenever I played a bad guy, I tried to find something good in him, and that kept my contact with the audience.

I really enjoy those characters like 'Profit.' With those elements that are shady and dark, you're not responsible for being a likable character. Like some of Jack Nicholson's characters, you remember them for so long.

It was new to play a woman who plays with her sincerity, and who is a seductress, a manipulator and a liar! I was able to compose a character as opposed to being very natural, so it was very interesting for me. It was great to realise that I could be this kind of real woman!

I love playing confused, broken characters.

I talk about Breaking Bad being the most brilliant show ever, and even minor characters have subtle nuances and are fully drawn.

I felt violated after certain scenes in the movie [Stone]. She [Lucetta] is a tough character. The choices she makes, especially her sexual choices... it was hard for me to put myself out there like that.

I like to play complex characters and the duality, and trying to reach for the light, it's more interesting really. I've gotten to play so many types of guys and I just try to find the humanity in each one of them the best I can.

You don't do characters that are the same as you, otherwise why bother to act?

I love playing darker roles, or roles with meat. I feel very comfortable in that environment. I don't know why. I don't know what that says about me. I really enjoy doing complicated characters.

I think that the best characters are the ones who both manage to be attractive and repulsive at the same time.

I consider it an actor going to work with other actors. It's not a competitive sport, it's not to outact anybody else, sorta thing, you can be a bad actor but you don't outact anybody, you just bring your character as best as you can.

I loved making The Imitation Game and it's really gratifying to hear the audience's response to the character that I play.

Every paragraph should accomplish two goals: advance the story, and develop your characters as complex human beings.

I like characters with flaws, who have shadow.

If you cared enough about your characters, what happened to them was interesting... it's important to care about them, about who they are and what they do...I don't really care whose side they are on, and they can be monstrous on the outside or, worse, on the inside, but you still have to want to spend time with them.

I've played a different type of character in a different type of thing, for the most part. It's not like you can't mine tons of fascinating stuff from any character that you play, and I've always been fascinated with women and relationships, but this has been a completely different experience, for sure.

What I like about theatre is the responsibility you have with your character.

These types of films that are psychologically sort of dark at times, I find extremely exciting to do because there's always something to think about. There's nothing more boring than to show up on set and say a line and know that your character means exactly what they say. It's interesting to have an unreliable narrator in a film and that's what both of those films have been.

I am a professional actor and I don't go about moralizing about what the character does. Otherwise, seriously, why be an actor? You're not making some kind of social statement. That's not what actors do. They may inadvertently do it, but it's because of the script, not the acting.

I'm an actor. I'm trying to be the character and do what they're doing.

I've always been interesting in characters that challenge people and who are not always that easy to like.