Martin Landau Quotes

I think difficult characters are very rewarding to do. They often have facets to them and this and that.

I totally respond to complex characters, and I'm not interested in anything too simple.

I always tell my students to complicate your characters: never make it easy for the reader. Nobody is ever one thing. That's what makes characters compelling.

The more layered, more complicated the role... The more I enjoy it.

I always hope for roles that have some depth and that I can get my teeth into and that will challenge me, in some way.

We're not one thing, as human beings, so any character that is written uni-dimensional, that's just a shallow character with shallow writing and shallow acting.

Mostly, I have to say as an actor, to find a character that's been rich enough for 10 seasons of shows... that's very rare.

I continue to be known as a guy that plays really complex, three-dimensional characters.

I love to start characters in a place where you think you know them. We can make all kinds of assumptions about them and think they have no redeeming qualities, but like everyone, they're complex.

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'd like roles with more depth.

The best characters to play are the ones who have deep internal conflict.

The thing about the classics it that they are such great characters, they have a great deal of depth and different layers to them. I always find that very stimulating to play.

I'm not looking to do 'Half Nelson' next, but to play anything that's a little more complex is really fun.

Every actor will tell you it's so much more fun to play the bad guy because usually those characters are more complex and more broad and more interesting, and have more sides to them.

I think every character actor at some stage likes to carry a film. It can be extremely liberating to just come in for a scene or two and do your thing. But I find it frustrating if I'm just doing little bits here and there for too long.

I've realised that when I don't play people who are complex I get very, very bored, and then lazy, and end up being rubbish.

The more secrets and twists in a character, the better.

I'll always find the things that make a role complicated!

I've played a lot of bad guys in my time, especially in movies. It's delightful playing the villain. It's almost the most interesting and most complicated role in a film.

The roles on 'American Horror Story' are so complicated.

You can't play a guy who's just a snake, because what do you draw on?

I have played characters where I haven't been absorbed - you know, what I call a typical film leading man role where you just have to look gorgeous and be attractive and charming. It bores me. I like a bit of dirt, a bit of sand in the oyster.

I loved doing 'Bad Moms.' I loved doing 'We're the Millers.' But now that I've tasted complexity, it doesn't matter what the genre is - it would be really hard to go back.