Willem Dafoe Quotes

There are actors I know personally, or I've heard them say, "The less known about me, the better, because I just want people to think of me as the character." I think Matt Damon said that recently. He has a point and I think I get that.

I just want to be known for the work I do, not my personal life or what I'm wearing.

Judge me on how I play football, or judge me on when you meet me.

I've been pretty transparent with all that I've done. I think my work speaks a lot for who I am. So, I don't think there's a particular thing I'd like them to know.

The story of my life has been of public interest, which is why I've been so passionate about having a private identity. When I step into a character, people have to be able to suspend their disbelief; they have to be able to divorce me from Hermiona. And not having everyone know every single intimate detail of my entire life is part of me trying to protect my ability to do my job well.

I think it came out of the fact that I'm a very personal person who lives a very public life. It's the only thing that I thought people would want to hear, and it's never about just being inspirational.

Image is what people think we are. Integrity is what we really are.

If critics have problems with my personal life, it's their problem. Anybody with half a brain would realize that it's the charts that count.

I've always thought if you watch the performance and you don't know about the person, then you only see the performance.

I want my audience to know me for my work, not because of who I'm dating or what drugs I'm on or what club I went to.

I'd like to think I'm an actor who leaves things at work.

If you are sincere and true to your work, you will be respected. And for me, respect is power.

I'm not really good at fun-to-know, human interest stuff. We're not 'celebrities', whose life itself is a performance. Good or bad or ugly, we are our words. They're what people meet.

I am not afraid if people think Matt LeBlanc in 'Episodes' is who I am - my friends and family know who I am.

My relationship with Salman Khan is too personal to talk about. I take my work like any other regular job, and what I do in my personal life is no one's business. I'd rather let my work do all the talking.

I think people are used to seeing actors be wide open and desperately giving of themselves, and while I do that on a movie set as much as I can, it's so unnatural for me to do it on television, in interviews, in anything like that. I also don't find that my process as an actor is really anyone else's business.

I want people to know me through the movies I do. I want to be judged on that. If you start becoming famous for your personal life, that's when your career goes away.

My wife told me if there is any rumors about me, it better be about politics and not about my social life.

I don't want to be just known for the way I dress. I want to be known for how I play, how I treat people, and how I am as a role model. I don't just want to be, 'He dresses cool' or 'He dresses crazy.' You're going to have lovers and haters. I want my golf game to be the main thing.

Actors should avoid talking about their personal lives.

When I am spotted somewhere, it means that my characterizations haven't covered up Eleanor Parker the person. I prefer it the other way around.

I've never been much for self-revelation. In two decades of public life, I always approached the limelight with extreme caution. Not that I kept my personal life off-limits; rather, the personal life I put on display was a blend of fact and fiction.

I want to be talked about for the films I am doing rather than a party I attended, the dress I wore, and the men I may have met and dated. In any case, by and large I think I have spoken about more for the profession I am in than my personal life. That's the way I like it because frankly, I don't really have a personal life to begin with.

I'm extremely happy, but I don't do love songs for the most part. It feels weird; that's such a personal thing to me. I'd rather live that in my real life and play a different character outside of that.

Sometimes I like to think it would be nice if you just had a character, and your personal life was your personal life. My life is definitely out there, you know?