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.

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.

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

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

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 have this horrible sense of humor where I think discomfort is funny - partly because I experience discomfort a lot, and it's a way of laughing at it and getting a release.

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

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've worked with a lot of people on music and often times those things don't work out.

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.

The only reason why I would like to be accepted? Because if your movies don't do well, after a while you don't get to make any more movies.

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.

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

I guess my experience with some stuff is kind of abstract.

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

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.

Whether you think a film will affect society or it's plain entertainment, it's all excellent, it's all noble.

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.

I still think that movies are amazing; I respect actors and directors.

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

Sometimes a character is really based on research that you do. Other times it's just based on your imagination or perhaps your conversation with the director. Or sometimes all of the above. It depends on the movie and character.

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

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