ByQuotes

Gene Wilder Quotes

Powerful Gene Wilder for Daily Growth

I wanted to do - there was this film called 'Magic' that Anthony Hopkins did. And the director wanted me. The writer wanted me. Joe Levine said no, I don't want any comedians in this.

- Gene Wilder

Magic, Director, Joe, Hopkins

I don't want to do 'Hamlet.' I don't want to do Robert Redford roles or Mel Gibson roles or Kevin Costner roles, because I'm not going to be good at them.

- Gene Wilder

Want, Going, Hamlet, Robert

What I learned from Mel Brooks was audacity - in performance as in life. Maybe you go too far, but try it.

- Gene Wilder

Go, Maybe, Learned, Audacity

Whatever simplicity I've achieved in writing, I think I owe most of it to Jean Renoir and Hemingway: simple, declarative sentences. I've read some very good writers, but the sentences were so long that I've forgotten what the point was.

- Gene Wilder

Some, I Think, Very, Jean

Success is a terrible thing and a wonderful thing. If you can enjoy it, it's wonderful. If it starts eating away at you, and they're waiting for more from me, or what can I do to top this, then you're in trouble. Just do what you love. That's all I want to do.

- Gene Wilder

Love, Waiting, Away, Terrible Thing

I said something really stupid once. I told a friend that my mother was so beautiful, but my dad was ugly. My dad heard it and just laughed it off, but I felt guilty. It haunted me for years. I should never have said that.

- Gene Wilder

Stupid, Years, Dad, Haunted

I've read everything printed in English that Freud has written. It helped me a great deal.

- Gene Wilder

Deal, Printed, Read, Freud

I'm funny on camera sometimes. In life, once in a while. Once in a while.

- Gene Wilder

Sometimes, Once, While, Camera

My favorite author is Anton Chekhov, not so much for the plays but for his short stories, and I think he was really my tutor.

- Gene Wilder

Think, I Think, Plays, Chekhov

I worked two days in Texas and two days in Hollywood on 'Bonnie and Clyde,' and that was it. I had no idea how it was going to turn out. And when I saw it, I was so upset, or fascinated, or something, by the sight of myself on the screen that I could hardly pay attention to the rest of the movie.

- Gene Wilder

Hollywood, Movie, Upset, Hardly

I live in a small town in Connecticut, and they don't write scripts there, but I get them anyway because my agent is in Los Angeles.

- Gene Wilder

Small, Agent, Angeles, Connecticut

I write funny. If I can make my wife laugh, I know I'm on the right track. But yes, I don't like to get Maudlin. And I have a tendency towards it.

- Gene Wilder

Like, I Write, Tendency, Maudlin

Lots of things are hard work, but I think writing, for me, after I started acting at 13 years old. I like writing now much more than I do acting only because, well, partly because the scripts that are offered are junk.

- Gene Wilder

Years, I Think, Offered, Scripts

I trust if your life is right, the right things will happen at the right time. If the chords are in harmony inside, I think other things will happen in the same way. That sounded highfalutin' to me once, but I believe it now.

- Gene Wilder

Trust, Harmony, Other, Right Time

I never thought of it as God. I didn't know what to call it. I don't believe in devils, but demons I do because everyone at one time or another has some kind of a demon, even if you call it by another name, that drives them.

- Gene Wilder

Thought, Some, Another, Demons

I'm in complete remission. I'm alive and well.

- Gene Wilder

Alive, Well, Complete, Remission

A lot of comic actors derive their main force from childish behavior. Most great comics are doing such silly things; you'd say, 'That's what a child would do.'

- Gene Wilder

Silly, Doing, Comics, Derive

Sidney Poitier was directing a film called 'Hanky Panky.' And he said, 'Do you want to come with me to New York to see Gilda Radner in 'Lunch Hour' on Broadway? I said, 'I don't need to see her, I love her. I've wanted to write something for her for a long time. So it's OK by me.'

- Gene Wilder

Love, Lunch, Broadway, OK

I'm not a natural writer like, let's say - I'm not talking about Arthur Miller; that's a whole other thing - but let's say Woody Allen. But the more I've written, the more I've found that there is a deep well in me somewhere that wants to express things that I'm not going to find unless I write them myself.

- Gene Wilder

Deep, Other, Arthur, Woody

I write funny. If I can make my wife laugh, I know I'm on the right track.

- Gene Wilder

Wife, Right Track, I Write, Laugh

If my mother hadn't laughed at the funny things I did, I probably wouldn't be a comic actor. After she had her first heart attack, the doctor said, 'Try to make her laugh.' And that was the first time I tried to make anyone laugh.

- Gene Wilder

Mother, Tried, Had, Laugh

I'm not so funny. Gilda was funny. I'm funny on camera sometimes. In life, once in a while. Once in a while. But she was funny. She spent more time worrying about being liked than anything else.

- Gene Wilder

Sometimes, More, Worrying, Camera

If something comes along that's really good, and I think I would be good for it, I'd be happy to do it. But not too many came along. I mean, they came along for the first, I don't know, 15, 18 films, but I didn't do that many. But then I didn't want to do the kind of junk I was seeing.

- Gene Wilder

Good, Happy, I Think, Junk

I want to do what I can lend my talents to, but I want it to be as a human being and not as a two-dimensional character.

- Gene Wilder

Character, Want, Human Being, Talents

When I'm not working on something, I seem to go through periods of depression. It helps to keep busy.

- Gene Wilder

Go, Through, Something, Helps

What do actors really want? To be great actors? Yes, but you can't buy talent, so it's best to leave the word 'great' out of it. I think to be believed, onstage or onscreen, is the one hope that all actors share.

- Gene Wilder

Best, I Think, Buy, Believed

I've become pretty philosophical about a lot of things, including death. It doesn't get to me.

- Gene Wilder

Pretty, Including, Lot, Philosophical

I love acting, especially if it's a fantasy of some kind, where it's not just realistic, it's not naturalism.

- Gene Wilder

Love, Fantasy, Some, Naturalism

The world is not based on fairness. Human beings can rise to fairness, can administer something that makes it fair or just. But that's not God.

- Gene Wilder

Fairness, Makes, Based, Rise

If there's an audience, I think they're going to expect me to be funny. But what if I'm not funny? What if I fail?

- Gene Wilder

Think, Audience, I Think, What If

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.