James Caan Quotes

#1. I play a guy who believes he's a king. He's the most common man in the world; in fact his family, like his suits, are just make-up. It's about dysfunctional people and dysfunctional relationships.

James Caan

#2. Actors have bodyguards and entourages not because anybody wants to hurt them - who would want to hurt an actor? - but because they want to get recognized. God forbid someone doesn't recognize them.

James Caan

#3. I never did anything else. In college I switched majors every two weeks, and acting was the only thing that held my interest.

James Caan

#4. My acting technique is to look up at God just before the camera rolls and say, 'Give me a break.'

James Caan

#5. Some guys say beauty is only skin deep. But when you walk into a party, you don't see somebody's brain. The initial contact has to be the sniffing.

James Caan

#6. You have to be very careful when you let someone win.

James Caan

#7. I've been lucky. The critics never went out of their way to single me out for doing bad work.

James Caan

#8. Anyone of my generation who tells you he hasn't 'done Brando' is lying.

James Caan

#9. It's a very charming movie about the mob - a real stretch for me.

James Caan

#10. Obstacles are only opportunities to succeed or fail; how we handle them determines what will happen.

James Caan

#11. I think we have to believe in things we don't see. That's really important for all of us, whether it's your religion or Santa Claus, or whatever. That's pretty much what it's about.

James Caan

#12. I never saw my dad cry. My son saw me cry. My dad never told me he loved me, and consequently I told Scott I loved him every other minute. The point is, I'll make less mistakes than my dad, my sons hopefully will make less mistakes than me, and their sons will make less mistakes than their dads.

James Caan

#13. I went to a shrink once, but I caught him going to a fortune-teller so I quit.

James Caan

#14. The most talented people are always the nicest.

James Caan

#15. I won't mention names, but in my career, the most talented people invariably are the easiest and nicest to get along with.

James Caan

#16. What I do quite honestly and seriously and not in any way being humble is not as important as what the garbage collector does. People make actors important.

James Caan

#17. Showing up every day isn't enough. There are a lot of guys who show up every day who shouldn't have showed up at all.

James Caan

#18. I loved 'Funny Lady' for whatever reason. People say they didn't know I could sing and dance. Well, nobody ever asks me - it's always, 'Punch this guy.'

James Caan

#19. I lost my passion for work. No, that's a negative statement. I just had a bigger passion for something else, for my son, and growing up with him.

James Caan

#20. I'm here instead of having shoulder surgery. But I'm not sure which is more painful.

James Caan

#21. Success is the result of clear goal, unshakable confidence, proper planning, enthusiastic ACTION and consistent persistence.

James Caan

#22. Sometimes it seems like this is the choice - either kick ass or kiss ass.

James Caan

#23. Sure, I want to be the best actor in the world. But my life is my family, my son, my friends. I don't know how anyone can find fault with that.

James Caan

#24. I'm an ultra-conservative.

James Caan

#25. I don't think silicone makes a girl good or bad.

James Caan

#26. One night I went over to get some dope from some Hollywood tough guy. After I left, my son Scott, who was only fifteen, went over with a baseball bat to kill him. I was laughing out of one eye and crying out of the other. I thought, Who am I kidding?

James Caan

#27. People say, 'Gee, you do a lot of mafia movies.' I think I've done two, out of 60.

James Caan

#28. I always thought of myself as some sort of athlete until I started playing golf a couple years ago.

James Caan

#29. Unless I love something or hate it, I don't want to deal with it.

James Caan

#30. I'm sort of a Walter Mitty. I got fewer brain cells than most people, so when I got friendly with cowboys, I started rodeoing. When I was calf-roping, there was something about the dirt that made me feel clean.

James Caan

#31. People wonder why first-time directors can make a brilliant picture, then suck on the second one. It's because they're a little terrified the first time. So they listen to all the experts around them.

James Caan

#32. Saving a letter from an old friend doesn't exist anymore. Everything is texted or emailed.

James Caan

#33. Someone's always saying, "It's not whether you win or lose," but if you feel that way, you're as good as dead.

James Caan

#34. I've never been difficult to anybody or with anybody on a picture. Especially when you're in that nice status of hierarchy of actors and actresses who get to approve directors. Because once you make that choice, it's my belief that the director's boss.

James Caan

#35. I was very fortunate in the '70s to work with the best actors, the best directors, the best cinematographers.

James Caan

#36. I have nothing against these big CGI movies, but there are not enough of the other ones - the ones with stories about character that have a beginning, a middle and an end. I said that to a couple of studio heads and they said, 'That's novel.'

James Caan

#37. No matter what heights you achieve, even if you're Brad Pitt, the slide is coming, sure as death and taxes.

James Caan

#38. I never rode a bull - I'm not that stupid.

James Caan

#39. My kid was a great baseball player. I thought I had it made. Front-row seats at Yankee Stadium. Then he turned sixteen and wanted to be a rapper.

James Caan

#40. To get over my divorce, I got a prescription to live at the Playboy Mansion for a while.

James Caan

#41. There's nothing more boring than actors talking about acting.

James Caan

#42. I really believe that you grow up a certain way in New York. There's a New York morality, a sense of loyalty. You know how to win and lose. There's a thousand kids outside, you know who to push and who not to push. There's a sixth sense you develop just because it's New York.

James Caan

#43. What's the difference between sex and love? I have four wives and five kids. I apparently don't know the difference.

James Caan

#44. My least favorite phrase in the English language is 'I don't care.'

James Caan

#45. Observe the masses and do the opposite

James Caan

#46. It is that, but really, it's about how we don't recognise the little things in life, or appreciate the little things in life like belonging. A sense of belonging is a big thing today.

James Caan

#47. There's a big difference between wanting to work and having to work. And I had to learn that the hard way. Now money is very important to me, because I ain't got it.

James Caan

#48. There are a lot of guys in Hollywood who clap you on the back just a little too hard.

James Caan

#49. You're the only one who's closing your eyes at night. There's no one else who can do it for you.

James Caan

#50. People are always backing up when I'm just going to shake their hands.

James Caan