Quotes By Joaquin Phoenix

When I go out with the ladies, I don't force them to pronounce my name. I tell them I like to go by the nickname of Kitten.

You're always thinking, What's the next move - the career, the money.

It's an amazing feeling to go into a studio and really be alone.

In most films - especially in regards to the protagonist - really from the get-go they set up some scenario that endears that character to the audience. Or imbues him with some nobility or heroism or something.

I'd see child actors and I'd get so jealous, because they're just completely wide open.

I mean, I don't like sitting at a table with seven or eight people asking me questions and kind of listening to what I'm doing - scrutinizing my thoughts and things like that. I just don't like it. I can't understand how anyone would.

I've always loved music, but I never really played anything. After 'Walk the Line' and learning to play guitar, and having that sense of performing, I think that certainly opened the door for me, for music.

I always have the fear that, if I don't commit 100 percent to my work, then it's gonna suffer.

I don't really make movies because I want to see my face on a billboard or because I want to get good reviews or have a big box office. That doesn't really matter to me at all.

I'm incredibly lazy!

No, I don't want to talk about River. I have nothing to say about it that I would want to be public.

I feel an obligation to set the record straight. Actors that say they're affected by something, that it changes their life, that they take it home with them, they're just trying to get nominated for an Oscar!

I never prepare. I think that's completely overrated. It's a very simple job. All you have to do is hit this bright mark, stand in the right spot and say the line. So I don't really believe in preparation.

I feel like everything you learn as an actor growing up is wrong. You're supposed to hit your mark, find your light and know your lines. Those are all things that just make things wooden, dull and boring.

My parents were just searching for an alternative way of raising their children.

I love having a master. I have no problem serving my director. That's my job. I want to make them happy.

Things are rarely as exciting or dramatic as we make them out to be in the press.

When I decide to do something, I stick with it, total commitment.

My music is going to be true. I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something, and it's what I feel.

When I look back I can't believe how my parents managed, but the cliche is true. We didn't have money, but we were rich in so many other ways.

For me, I'd rather have an intense experience than not.

I loved hip-hop. The first stuff I heard was Public Enemy, and I couldn't believe it. It was amazing, and I've always loved hip-hop.

For me, I guess I'm the acting equivalent of somebody that jumps off buildings and parachutes.

I wish I had fair justification for not being as informed as I should be, but I don't.

Acting is real important to me. I love it, and it's something I care about.

I guess I had what you could call an unconventional upbringing.

I didn't know much about him, and I wasn't a big country music fan. I listened to the Beatles and David Bowie, so I didn't know a lot about him.

Well, I think that you know, I threatened myself with quitting after every movie. But I think everybody does that, right?

The reason I keep making movies is I hate the last thing I did. I'm trying to rectify my wrongs.

I know if I'm lost in the moment or not.