Paul Giamatti Quotes

There's no particular role that comes to mind that I'd like to take on, but for me, it's about playing interesting characters and not just two-dimensional ones.

These people I play are not usually wish-fulfillment characters.

I can't always pick and choose, but I try very hard to take the roles where they are a bit more human. Sometimes there's a hilarious thing that comes along and it might not be the most interesting character, but I'm just delighted to be able to do something.

I never really thought about what characters I play. I always just wanted different characters.

I feel I should never do passive characters. They don't work for me.

A while ago, I did a television adaptation of 'Bleak House,' and the character I played, as far as I was concerned, had no redeeming features whatsoever. I wasn't about to try to find any; I didn't need to.

I think it's fair to say I'm attracted to playing characters who are rather intense.

I always look to play flawed characters. I'm not very interested in playing somebody that's just, you know, the very nice one or the attractive one, or whatever, which a lot of female parts can just be written that way.

I'm not particularly fond of playing villains. I do want to be a working actor, and I've had to look at what was offered to me, what roles I could get, and what I could do with them. Even though I'm not drawn to putting those kinds of darker characters out there, I think it's an interesting challenge.

I would say that a lot of the characters I've been attracted to are very vulnerable and they expose themselves emotionally. Not so much in 'The Fighter,' not so much in 'The Master' - I think those are different.

I am fine playing 'Law & Order' and even the 'Jurassic' movies to be straight up, as far as the characters being portrayed there, but I never want to stay in straight-up land too long. I always wanted to do something where the character's world gets to be explored.

For me, it's first about the characters. I look for a character who is intriguing and challenging and different from what I've done before.

Playing dysfunctional characters or crazy characters is only fun if they're well written. So I have been lucky enough to be asked to play crazy people who are very well written.

It's better to play negative lead roles than portray just any other character on the show.

I guess the characters I play may be at the more destructive edge of the spectrum, more damaged or whatever, but I find a lot of female roles uninteresting.

I think if you're too embroiled in the need to relate too closely to the character, then you start to judge the character for the audience rather than to present it to the audience for their enjoyment and them to mull over the questions that the characters present.

One of my favorite actors is Javier Bardem, he always challenges his previous roles, and basically does the unexpected.

I've refused roles because they're too simplistic.

I don't really worry about the size of the part much any more. It's nice to have more time to work on the character, and to have big scenes to play. But if there's something playable there, and if it's interesting to do, then that's nice.

I'm drawn to roles that have real substance, that aren't just the victim or the teenage girl or the girlfriend.

Sometimes, the smaller roles in movies can be the most interesting. If you only take the stance that you'll only play central characters in movies, you'll find yourself not being able to indulge in that morally grey terrain that makes support characters so rich and interesting.

I like to play characters that are convincing, that aren't just straightforward and nice.

I love playing characters, so I'm always telling my agents, 'Don't worry if the character description is something you think I'm not. Let me try to be that person.'

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

I don't categorize characters into one syllable. These are fully-rounded characters that I don't judge; I just play them.