- Istanbul was unbelievable! What a city! I could go back there again and again. That was a fascinating place. It was a very foreign experience. But yeah, that is one of the perks of the job. You get to go places that you'd never imagine and see a part of the world you hadn't considered before. It was great. (On filming portions of Hitman (2007) in Istanbul).
- [on Deadwood (2004)] The fact is, this job is always fun, always a good time, but it's not that often that you can be as proud of it as I am of this experience. We just had a great time making it too.
- Well, bottom line with A Perfect Getaway (2009) was, I thought "I'm going to have a lot of fun at work". That part was gonna get me an opportunity to play and have fun. There's something great when you read something and you have some sense of, "I know what to do here. Give me a little room. This is going to be a lot of fun". And then when we got Steve [Steve Zahn], "Well, now it's going to be a ton of fun, because there's somebody who's going to be so fun to bounce off of". The quality of the actors I got to work with on that made it seem like I was getting away with something.
- [on committing to a TV series] I can't speak for everybody, but for me, if you told actors that you wanted to do a TV series and it was going to run three years and that's it, you're done, I think the line would get a lot longer, without question. It's really easy to fall into this habit of, "Ahh, I don't know what I'm going to do next." You think every job is your last job, but there's another side to that, which is that it never gets any better than when you first get a new job. It's the most fun. When somebody says, "You got the job," that's the most fun, and from that point forward, it's so exciting, but part of the fun is when the job is over and you move on. The danger with success in television is "Haven't we shot this episode before? Didn't we shoot this scene two years ago?" I think it's really hard to just take the risk from season to season and not be afraid to give the audience something completely different, and trust that they'll come with you.
- [Joking about why he was passed over as Best Actor in a Dramatic Series for his show Justified (2010)] As I understand it, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is fifty people from around the world that make that vote, and I slept with three of them. I don't know if that helps me or hurts me, but it just shows you it could turn pretty quick.
- [on Deadwood (2004)] I think that after 9/11 there was a feeling in this country that people felt that their enemies were everywhere and around the corner, and were looking at their neighbors differently. That feeling seemed to be very much alive in our show. That capacity for violence was everywhere. So, as much as it was about the 1800s, it felt very much like we were doing something contemporary.
- I trust that I know a good part when I see one and usually, when I see one, I have to wait for seven people to pass, in order for me to get it.
- [on fandom and being recognized] I know the difference between someone coming up to you on the street and saying, "Hey, you're that dude, right. Yes, that's what I thought," and somebody coming up and saying, "Big fan of the show. Big fan of that character." And that's nice. You're out there telling stories, you're hoping to find an audience, and it's very appreciated.
- [on the the strong dialogue on Justified (2010), inspired by the writing of Elmore Leonard] It's a joy, you know, it's a pleasure to be able to speak these lines and have such good dialogue. It's hard to get your hands on that and I feel like I get to do it week in and week out. And it's not lost on me and what an opportunity it is and I'm enjoying every second of it. But, my contribution to that... you know, very little. I'm not sure it's my greatest strength. The word "dude" comes out of my mouth a lot and so my contributions need to be translated and rearticulated in Elmore speak.
- [on playing a fictionalized version of himself on The Grinder (2015) and being portrayed as a philanderer] I said (to the people behind the show), "This is a little bit of an issue because I'm playing Timothy Olyphant and Timothy Olyphant has been married for 25 years... and you've got him showing up and he's going to have this affair with this girl, and that's not really 'me,'" and they said, "Well, that's not the way we see the character." I actually said to my wife at one point, "Are we OK with this?" and she said, "Tim, nobody takes this shit seriously."
- [on late writer Elmore Leonard, who created the Raylan Givens character in Justified (2010)] The guy was genuinely cool. It was never a pose with him. You can go into any party or public gathering, and you'll see lots of people trying to act cool, and then there's always one person off in the corner, not doing much, who's the real deal. That was Elmore.
- [on room service] I'll admit a little something: If I go to one of those hotels where there's like a $50 omelet, I'm taking the silverware home with me. I'm not saying it's right. I just feel like it's an unspoken agreement where the mug and the silverware are just part of the deal.
- [on Justified (2010), which ran for six seasons] I have a very healthy understanding of how good a gig this is. You're never quite sure, when you first get something if you really have a sense of what an opportunity it is. I think I've learned, over the years, that this is about as good as it gets, as far as working in show business.
- [on his unique walk] I think people talking about the way I walk sounds great. Me talking about the way I walk sounds moronic.
- [on Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (2017)] Did you see that Jim Carrey documentary on Netflix, for that Andy Kaufman movie, where he was in character 24 hours a day, seven days a week, never breaks character? I watched that documentary in character. My character hated it. My character thought it was just narcissistic and pretentious. He watched like 20 minutes. The only reason he didn't turn it off sooner is 'cause he thought Paul Giamatti might hit Jim Carrey in the face. It's too bad, 'cause I think I would've liked it.
- [on not being single in Hollywood] I'm glad I don't have to go down that road. Movies are summer camp. You fall head over heels in love with beautiful strangers, and then six months later you only vaguely remember their names.
- [on turning 50] I mean this in the most respectful way, but I think turning 50 gives you permission to just not give a fuck. It also gives you an opportunity to realize it goes by pretty quickly and nothing lasts forever.
- [on encounters with his fans] I think they confuse me as being perhaps a cool dude that I play on TV. So I get a lot of like, "I see you over there, I don't want to make a big deal, but I love what you're doing." And then they walk away and I'm like, this is fucking awesome. It's as good as it gets.
- [on being a parent] It fucking exhausts you! That's how it changes you! My buddy on the show is expecting a baby. I said, "Imagine I call you at midnight, and I hang up without saying anything. Then I call you two hours later, and I hang up again. This continues. Oh, and by the way, in between my calls, you're wondering if I'm dead." That's what it's like.
- [on making a marriage work] You have to be with the right person, and you both have to be willing to do the work, day in and day out, to make it happen.
- [on turning down the role of Dom Toretto in The Fast and the Furious (2001)] I just thought, well, this will just be stupid, and I thought no one is gonna wanna see this movie eight or nine different times. I mean, by the third or fourth sequel, people are gonna definitely get bored of it. Right?
- I used to show up [on set] assuming two things: that everyone is really great at their job and that we were all going to be great friends. I now show up to work assuming that everybody is terrible at what they do and that I'm not going to like anyone of them. And I've had so much more fun because then you're pleasantly surprised by the opposite, as opposed to being terribly disappointed and shit out of luck.
- When I was first starting out, I remember my acting teacher (William Esper) telling me, you know, 'Give yourself about 10 years and then you'll get good at it' and I feel like I just sort of crossed that line a few years ago, and I'm enjoying my career more than ever.
- [on being cast frequently as a law enforcement officer] Hollywood makes movies about cops, and I'm in the right age range. If you're my age in Hollywood, you will play a cop.
- [on TV vs film] The last couple years, the best material I've been able to get my hands on is television. The movie business is a different animal. It's not to say there isn't a lot of crap on TV, but we aren't shortchanging the American public. The best stuff on TV - the characters are reminiscent of the films Hollywood used to make, which are a lot harder to come by these days.
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