Martin Landau Quotes

• Everyone can walk and talk. Your job is to create magic.

  Martin Landau

  Jobs, Magic, Walks

  58 Copy quote

• It's better to live as your own man, than as a fool in someone else's dream.

  Martin Landau

  Dream, Men, Vision

  "Fictional character: Commander John Koenig". "Space: 1999", www.imdb.com. 1975–1977.

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• Doubt is a very important trait. Out of doubt comes thinking, decisions, choices. We learn stuff. We learn to make mistakes. Or not to.

  Martin Landau

  Mistake, Thinking, Choices

  Source: m.washingtontimes.com

  14 Copy quote

• You can have immediate regrets, but if you look at stuff and say, 'Things happen for a reason', there's a fatalistic thing about it. Something will happen that will justify it in some way

  Martin Landau

  Regret, Looks, Stuff

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• Playing a drunk doesn't mean being a drunk, only bad actors try to be drunk. A real drunk tries to be sober, he wants another drink. How a character hides their feelings tells us who they are, no one shows their feelings except bad actors.

  Martin Landau

  Real, Character, Mean

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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

  Martin Landau

  Real, Laughing, Comedian

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• If you don't trust yourself, you won't trust others. You make a choice and see where it goes.

  Martin Landau

  Choices, Trust Yourself

  Source: m.washingtontimes.com

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• Bad guys don't think they're bad guys. Hitler probably thought he was a wonderful guy doing some wonderful and righteous work for Germany.

  Martin Landau

  Thinking, Guy, Germany

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• Everything that has happened to me is of value to me. As painful as certain things are, and have been, and were, there's a use for those things in my life and in my work

  Martin Landau

  Pain, Use, Certain

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• Any good director creates a playground. That's what they do. They hire the right actor, open the door and let them play because stuff will happen, right then and there. The audience wants to believe that what's going on is happening for the first time, ever. That's what acting is. That's what good scene writing is.

  Martin Landau

  Believe, Writing, Doors

  "Martin Landau Talks FRANKENWEENIE, the Love for His Character, Bringing Mr. Rzykruski to Life, Advising Other Actors and Collaborating with Tim Burton". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. October 5, 2012.

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• The actor has to have some degree of craft, along with the talent. No one tries to laugh except bad actors. No one tries to cry except bad actors. How a character hides his feelings tells us who he is. Most people don't know that, and most actors don't do that. Therefore, there are a lot of actors who put me to sleep, that are considered good actors, but they're predictable and boring. I know how the scene is going to end before it ends.

  Martin Landau

  Character, Sleep, Laughing

  "Martin Landau Talks FRANKENWEENIE, the Love for His Character, Bringing Mr. Rzykruski to Life, Advising Other Actors and Collaborating with Tim Burton". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. October 5, 2012.

  16 Copy quote

• People are in denial all the time, hiding things. If I tell you a racist or dirty joke and you laugh, you're telling me something about yourself, which you don't want to reveal. Accessing that hidden side is what good acting is all about. And there are only a handful of people in the entire United States who interest me as actors, who surprise me. Even people who write about it, don't know anything about good performance. At least when you work at General Motors, you know something about cars.

  Martin Landau

  Dirty, Writing, People

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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• My mantra is "stay perpendicular." Horizontal is not as good. Half the people that came along and up with with me are either gone to another dimension or don't remember what they had for lunch. I'm fortunate. I don't know why. I just want to have a good time.

  Martin Landau

  People, Good Times, Remember

  Source: m.washingtontimes.com

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• It's OK to be wrong. You learn from your wrongs. You don't learn from being right. If you're right, you already know it. If you're wrong, it's because you don't know about it, and you made a mistake.

  Martin Landau

  Mistake, Made A Mistake

  Source: m.washingtontimes.com

  4 Copy quote

• I always treat each take as a rehearsal for the next take. That way you can find stuff and keep adding and playing until they tell me to stop

  Martin Landau

  Rehearsal, Stuff, Way

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• Most acting today on television is like a locomotive on a track. Everybody knows what they are doing. The problem of writing today is everyone sounds the same. We speak differently. We think differently. People are different. And that's the beauty of it.

  Martin Landau

  Writing, Thinking, People

  Source: m.washingtontimes.com

  4 Copy quote

• A good director creates a playground for actors, and lets them go. The trick for a good director is in casting properly, and creating the playroom, and then they'll get stuff that they don't expect, and can't even direct. All the audience wants to believe is that whatever is happening, it is happening for the first time. They want to see the people within the work exchanging dialogue and action in that moment. There are not a lot of actors that can do that.

  Martin Landau

  Believe, People, Action

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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• God is a luxury I can't afford.

  Martin Landau

  Money, Luxury, I Can

  "Fictional character: Judah Rosenthal". "Crimes and Misdemeanors", www.imdb.com. 1989.

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• I try to never repeat a character. I always try to find something new and fresh and interesting that inspires me.

  Martin Landau

  Character, Interesting, Inspire

  "Martin Landau Talks FRANKENWEENIE, the Love for His Character, Bringing Mr. Rzykruski to Life, Advising Other Actors and Collaborating with Tim Burton". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. October 5, 2012.

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• I'm very proud of Space 1999. Its success paved the way for other sci-fi shows to follow. My hope is that the DVD release will help it reach a new generation of fans

  Martin Landau

  Dvds, Space, Fans

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• Just five years before that the Russians were our allies

  Martin Landau

  Years, Eyebrows, Allies

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• If it bothers me on the page, I don't do it. If it attracts me on the page and moves me, makes me think a bit, makes me laugh, makes me cry, I'm interested in it. If it's there on the page, it means it's there and up to me to bring it out. I have done some films along the way that have been screwed up and not as good as they read. Some films that are not that good on the page turn into good movies. So I'm fallible is what I'm saying.

  Martin Landau

  Moving, Mean, Thinking

  Source: m.washingtontimes.com

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• I've always been interested in science fiction

  Martin Landau

  Fiction, Science Fiction

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• An awful lot of actors who are considered very good actors are not very good actors. There are people who just strike gold, they have intrinsic talent, but the point is that if they did train, it would not inhibit them. If they were with a good teacher, it would only broaden them more.

  Martin Landau

  People, Gold, Actors

  "Q&A: Martin Landau". Interview with Peter Debruge, variety.com. April 24, 2007.

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• What can I do to help? I am asking my senator to support political action to end hunger in the greatest country on this planet.

  Martin Landau

  Country, Support, Political

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