Holly Hunter Quotes

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

I'm hoping that other people can learn from me, both the mistakes I've made or the opportunities I've had, or for the decisions I've made: for instance, not to go and take a lot of different jobs in a lot of different places, but to stay in one place for most of my career.

I think that's one of the reasons why I've been able to have a great career for 20 years - because I'm able to adapt.

Every GM will tell you it's an instinct. It's an instinct to be patient, to react, or act, or not to do anything at all. It just comes. What I can say is you must have a plan and a goal and a way to do things. At the end of the day, it's an instinct. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad.

There are some directors I should have worked with. I'd like to have worked with Robert Altman - I turned him down a couple of times when I was younger. My thing now is if it's a good director I'll never say no - I'm just gonna say yes from now on.

It's always interesting researching characters and as I get older and the more that I work in this business, I do more and more of it because I realize how important it is.

I have a reputation for being an improvisational actor, which is true, but I also know what I'm doing so that if the improvisational strand doesn't work I can go back to what I know's already there.

I have accomplished a lot, but it didn't happen overnight for me. I was 35 when I got the show, and had been working professionally for 15 years. It would be a lot weirder if I were in my early 20s and stumbled into it.

I never think about the next movie. I always think about the situation I'm in now, but you do think about an arc someone can go. I love Johnny Depp, I love 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' but I never wanted to play the same character over and over again.

I'll do whatever I can do to remain employed. I'm just not precious about doing comedy or doing drama. I never want to do something in order to prove to other people what I can do.

You've got to trust your instincts, your judgment and trust the storytelling that came before and the quality of the acting with the emotion.

I spent 26 years in the business without ever knowing what I was doing a month from now.

I like working with different directors; it keeps you on your toes.

The essence of good business is knowing when to step on a train and when to step off.

As an actor, you always have to reinvent yourself or you end up in the gutter somewhere. It's my job to always change people's minds. I've known that for a long time and I've had to do it.

I've been on projects before where there's no rehearsal, and you walk in on set and that's literally the first time you've ever played the character, and then I've had times where there's been three weeks of rehearsal. I like both.

I think, you know, as an actor we get these terribly sort of pretentious ideas in our heads. We try to take everything very seriously at first, you know, until we lighten up, we get onboard, and have a laugh.

Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.

Making decisions quickly isn't for everyone, and I've had my disasters, but overall, it works for me.

One of the things I'm most proud of about my career is the fact I've managed to keep options open.

No amount of skill on the part of the actress can make up for the loss of youth.

When I first met my agent, I said, If something comes up and it fits my age range and personality, I would like you to send me up for it, even if it specifies blonde or brunette.

If you have the skill, then you can move as you age.

From a very early age, I made my decisions based on careers that I admire. The one thing that all the actresses I love have in common is that they have diversity in their careers.

I have been taught by experience, and never hesitate to sacrifice personal feeling to the requirements of the hour.