Robert Shaw Quotes

I think it would be amazing to be a character actor and still be a lead now and then in movies.

I think every leading man wants to be a character actor, and every character actor wants to be a leading man.

I was always a character actor, basically, that sometimes looks like a leading man.

I was only a leading man for a minute; now I'm a character actor.

People call me a movie star. If you're in the business, a movie star is someone who can make a film bankable. My name and $6 million will make a $6 million movie. I'm a working actor. Because I started late, I had a very short run as a leading man, and my films didn't make money in America.

I've never thought of myself as a classic leading man. I'm a character actor who happens to play leading roles. Come on, look at me. I'm really Desperate Dan.

I don't really think there's much difference between a character actor and a leading man besides aesthetics.

I usually play character parts in Hollywood films.

There are a lot of actors that I really love to watch, actors who I have fun watching - I think Johnny Depp is phenomenal. But I wouldn't want that career as much as I'd like a career like Tom Hanks - he kind of represents the everyman.

I never really thought of myself as being an action hero or a leading man or any of that. I'm a character actor.

My definition of a character actor is - they never get the girl.

I think there are always actor parts, and then there are movie-star parts, and an actor's always an actor until he does a movie-star part.

I'm a character actor, but I look like a leading man.

The reason I am unemployed for six months out of every year is because I have to turn down most of the films I'm offered. If I didn't, I'd only ever play a dark, satanic count on a horse.

I don't know if I could ever really be cast in a heartthrob role apart from 'Twilight', which I didn't really know was a heartthrob role. I really don't feel I am one.

It's harder in the States. I'm much more inclined to get offered things that are a lot straighter and heavier and dramatic. And they go by looks, too. If you look like a leading man, then that's what they will consider you for.

Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors because he takes chances.

I do get cast in the same role a lot, but the truth is, I just want longevity. The thing is, I'd rather be stuck in a stereotype than be nowhere. The whole typecasting thing started because of 'Reservoir Dogs.' And I did a bunch of other films like 'Wyatt Earp' and 'Free Willy,' but no one seems to remember those.

I call myself a character actor all my life. I've done a certain amount as a leading man, but character actors in my estimation - it's a lost art these days.

I've never had any illusions about being a lead actor in films, because lead actors have to be of a certain kind.

I am the actor that I am. I do what I do. I've been a 'leading man' playing romantic leads for a long time now.

I have to make my bones with Hollywood to get in. And when I do maybe I'll metamorphose from Mr. Muscles or whatever it is I am now and become an irascible tosser.

As an actor I'm part of a long line of character people you can take back to the silent movies.

No matter how many modern parts I do, people still refer to me as Mrs. Costume Drama. Fight Club is a studio pic, and I've done very few of those. I've got a feeling it's going to change things for me.

If you are the kind of guy who draws in 100 million people to see his film, you've got every right to be paid accordingly, but I qualify as a character actor. I don't put a bum on a seat.