Jonah Hill Quotes

An actor is an impersonator; he plays many different roles. If you played the same role all the time, God that'd be a boring career.

I don't feel like a romantic lead; I guess I feel more like a character actor.

Yeah, I am a character actor.

I grew up like every young kid I know, who wants to be a cop and wants to be a firefighter, so this lifestyle that I've chosen happens to offer that in small doses in front of the camera. I want to take advantage of that. Hopefully I can play many, many different occupations.

As actors you don't want to have one label. You'd rather have seven.

I have never wanted to be typecast, one of those actors who plays a variation on a one-note theme. So just as I enjoy playing a wide variety of characters, from good to bad to ugly to cute - so I have enjoyed of late working in film and television, as well as in theatres of various sizes and shapes.

When someone who is known as a comedic actor goes to drama, it often doesn't work out, because they really just chose wrong, I think - or maybe they're just not good actors. For me it's important making that transition seamless, and not a huge shock and jumping into cold water. It doesn't feel like I'm trying to shock you or anything. I'm just saying, "I'm a different actor than you thought I was. Don't put me in a box. I'm not just some kid running around screaming curse words." I have other tastes besides comedy. I love comedy, but I love dramatic movies just as much.

I always thought of myself as a character actor. I never thought of myself as a leading man.

I don't know if I'm an action star or if that's just how things are shaping up. I would hate to be boxed into that forever, but it's probably just a strength as far as my type goes, and I'm fine with that.

I get told a lot that I'm kind of carving my own path. That there are not many actors who are out and are able to play straight and gay, and everyone's OK with it.

I've always thought of myself as a character actor, even though I've played some leading-man roles.

I love what I do. And in the true sense, from my training, I try to create a character each time. It is something I do. But I don't want that term to limit what I can do. I prefer people to say to me, 'You're one of my favorite actors,' rather than 'You're one of my favorite character actors.' It sounds like a slam.

I've never been the actor who did one job, and everyone went, 'Wow!'

I wouldn't want to be associated with one character, because I want to be able to do different roles.

Whether or not I am a 'character actor' or any other kind of actor, I really don't know. When people call me a 'character actor,' I fail to understand what it means.

I never really thought I was a method actor or anything like that.

I wouldn't consider myself a traditional sitcom actor or someone you'd even think would be in a sitcom.

I am not an action hero. That is not the only thing I did in my career. Many people know me because of my work with Pedro Almodóvar, or theater or films that I have done, aside from that. But, that was a part of my career that I embrace. I loved movies like Zorro and Desperado and The 13th Warrior, and other movies like that, that I have done and that contain some action, but it's not the only thing that I do.

I'm character-driven. If it's a great character and something different; because I find that a lot of the times you do get pigeon-holed, you do get the same characters over and over again because that's what producers are comfortable with. They've seen you do it, they know you can do it. I'm kind of getting a little stir crazy.

It's really interesting, for an actor, that you can continue to do season after season and not play the same role.

I want to bring something different to every film. I get a bit tired of actors who kind of are the same character in every film that they do.

I'm very fortunate that I get asked to do very different kinds of roles and I realize how much I enjoy that. I enjoy the challenge of transformation. There are actors who play one character, or a certain kind of character, the whole of their lives. I really relish the opportunity to have the challenge to totally transform.

For me, I've been really, really lucky because I have been able to play a lot of different parts.

I love playing a villain. I think that there's something freeing about that, and it's a different kind of challenge. More than anything, for me as an actor, it's about challenging myself and doing as many different things as I can.

After my father had seen me in five or six things, he said, Son, your mother and I really enjoyed your recent film, and I must say that you're a lot like John Wayne. And I said, How so? And he said, Well, you're exactly the same in all your roles. Now, as a modern American actor, that's not what you want to hear. But for a guy who watched John Wayne movies and grew up in Iowa, it's a sterling compliment.