Griffin Dunne Quotes

Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is.

I'm going to try to not let anyone put me in a box, and that certainly applies to the things I do outside of acting.

I don't like to be labeled, to be anything. I've made the mistake before myself of labeling my music, but it's counter-productive.

I take my craft seriously, of course, but I don't feel the need to always play a certain character or a certain part or persona. I'm not going to cut something out of my life because it's not 'my image.' I want to be open enough that if I love something, I can do it, and it will add to myself as an entertainer.

It's like, you can't have any fun, and if you do have fun, if you do your own thing, you're considered crazy and should be in a mental institution. Now, that's what I find creepy. I'm eccentric. I am not messed up.

I think a lot of my work has been a weird attempt to liberate myself, but it's not altogether successful.

Life is the most versatile thing under the sun; and in the pursuit of life and character the author who works in a groove works in blinkers.

I've tried actively to define myself and redefine myself, and not be pigeonholed.

I don't want to be labeled one thing. My main thing I care about is being able to create the things I want to do with my friends, whatever platform that is.

I've done some really off-the-wall stuff and stuff that people might not expect. That's one way to work through people's expectations of you.

I've certainly never liked the idea of being put in a box. I loved being part of shows like 'American Idiot' and 'In the Heights,' and I take pride in being able to sing different styles, not just 'Old Man River.'

Question everything. Don't try to emulate someone else's path. Look at what you have, the tools you have, the place you're in; know the rules, and break them.

I think people have come to know that I am not comfortable in a box, you know, and that I love music.

New York is the opposite of East Germany, the crown of individuality. That's why I can work well here and find out what I personally think of the pieces I'm learning. I can lay aside all the baggage of German education. In any case, whatever I do, I can't lose it altogether.

I want to challenge myself in new mediums; I want to leave myself open to different things.

I hope I'm becoming more eccentric. More room in the brain.

I'd like to never be able to get pigeonholed, which is difficult to do.

More and more, I play myself, as I get older. Even as a writer, I never got typecast. I've always bounced from project to project, or initiated my own things. I was never known as the guy who wrote romantic comedies or sci-fi, or whatever, but that's fun to me. The first two films I ever had made, as a writer, were both thrillers, which was great. There was nothing funny about either of them, or not intentionally. I actually love that.

I discovered very early that it wasn't quite enough for me to imitate people.

I remember when I was in art classes, I hated following the assignments. And I would get in trouble for doing something totally different or taking it in a weird direction.

I think I'm always conscious of not letting things fit into a specific box. Being a filmmaker and trying to chart a career, you never want anyone to be able to pigeonhole you into one specific thing.

I really like to try my hand at everything, and I think it's probably dangerous to let oneself be pigeon-holed, not necessarily by other people, but in one's own mind.

I don't really have one style; I just choose what I like best each time.

I feel, as an artist, I should be able to express who I am and the things I come from, and the places I want to also be.

I have a lot of fun writing for artists, but I'm learning to apply that fun to myself.