Quotes from Martin Landau

I'm certainly not going to play any of Matt Damon's roles in the future. But he will eventually grow into mine, since he'll be around for a long time.

People do not necessarily reveal what is going on - only bad actors do.

When someone is there for you, has your back, that's somebody to pay attention to because that's a friend.

You can't perish because of your own feelings; you have to embrace those things as an actor because it's part of your palette.

People think I'm a very serious actor, which I am. But you know, if you don't have a sense of humor doing what I do, you perish.

My best stuff as a teacher was always to find the problems within each individual actor, and I'll suggest things that I know that particular actor will have difficulty with.

I'm a big believer that an actor should be able to pick up any piece of material and act it, the way a good musician can.

I always believed that all it would take was a decent role. I felt like a pinch hitter with a leaden bat: that if I got a chance, I could hit a home run.

A film is not going to change the world. But if it can do that to individuals on an individual level, I think it's a magnificent movie.

I've spent a lot of time playing roles that didn't really challenge me. I suppose every actor feels that way.

God is a luxury I can't afford.

A good director makes a playground and allows you to play.

The real good comedians, like Chaplin, would make you laugh and a second later, cry.

The average scene in a film, you have to shoot it 15, 20 times. That means you got to laugh or cry 15, 20 times.

I've got two daughters, and it's impossible for me to say one of them is a favorite.

Dialogue is what a character's willing to share and reveal to another character, and the 90% they aren't willing to share is what I do for a living.

I did 12 shows in 13 weeks at a summer theater in Maine where we were paid $35 a week. After taxes and $25 for room and board, I had enough money for a pack of cigarettes and a bowl of lobster bisque.

Great teachers are the ones who inspire you.

I've always been interested in science fiction

Years ago on TV, I played people like Doc Holliday and Jesse James on Westerns.

A lot of the bad guys I've played just haven't had much dimension to them.

I can take scripts directly to actors. Agents don't like to hear that.

My technique has always been to include all the periphery around me.

How a character hides his feelings tells us something about him.