Willem Dafoe Quotes

It's fun to be on the edge. I think you do your best work when you take chances, when you're not safe, when you're not in the middle of the road, at least for me, anyway.

People tend to play in their comfort zone, so the best things are achieved in a state of surprise, actually.

Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable. Once you find out what you do best, why not try something else?

Sometimes the things that scare me are the things I'm drawn to: moving to London, L.A., New York; marrying, having a kid. In order to live a full life, sometimes you have to do things that scare you.

'Whiplash' scared me. I feel you should only do projects that scare you to some degree. I get motivated by those sorts of feelings.

The best roles have risks... and those are the parts I'm interested in.

Every time I do a project, it always comes with a level of discomfort and not knowing how to do it.

I feel every day that everything I create - everything I do - I want it to be a risk.

If doing anything new, you're very used to having insurmountable obstacles.

I've always been quite careful about what I wanted to do. I've just never wanted to revisit old ground or do something that's easy. I want to do something that I would look at and go, "I don't know what to do!" The most exciting thing is when you're a bit scared, so I'm looking to find something that's really terrifying.

I always felt that if you're not trying something different each time out of the gate, you're being safe, and you don't ever want to find that place of safety. I like that, each time, before I even go in front of the cameras, the studio's reaction will be fear.

I don't like improv at all. It terrifies me. I like to know exactly what I'm going to say. Being surprised does make me a better actor. Anytime I'm afraid of something that makes me rise to the occasion, it scares me, but it's what makes great actors - being in the moment.

I feel like every time I take on a movie, it's important that the possibility of failure exists, and of the unknown, because it's a challenge to do something I haven't done before and something I have to try to work out.

I need to go where I'm not comfortable. I think that's the artist's job.

Sometimes it's bad to do something you've never done before.

I don't know what the future holds. I just try to do roles that I haven't done before.

Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.

When you go out on a limb, that's when you really know you're living.

I like to scare myself and throw myself off the deep end.

Good parts should always scare you a little bit, and good parts... you might not get advice to do them.

You have to be willing to be afraid if you're going to be an artist.

When I'm challenged, I grow. I never want to be in a situation where I'm not challenged and not afraid. One of my favorite feelings is stepping into a film and knowing that I'm a little bit afraid of what I have to accomplish.

I've produced and gotten to do a lot of optimistic love stories, and that was so where I was at for 10 years in my life. And now I feel like, Okay, now I know how to do that. I want to get scared again; I want to feel the way I felt when I started my company, when I started producing.

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.

For me, every day is a new thing. I approach each project with a new insecurity, almost like the first project I ever did. And I get the sweats. I go in and start working, I'm not sure where I'm going. If I knew where I was going I wouldn't do it.