John Malkovich Quotes

Powerful John Malkovich for Daily Growth

About John Malkovich

John Malkovich, a multifaceted talent renowned as an actor, director, and producer, was born on December 9, 1953, in Christopher, Illinois, USA. His parents, Joe Malkovich, a coal miner, and Joanne Horricks, a hospital worker, nurtured his love for art and storytelling from an early age. Malkovich's acting journey began at the Illinois State University, where he was actively involved in theater productions. His breakthrough role came in 1984 when he portrayed Kurt Waldheim in "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" on Broadway, earning him a Tony Award nomination. In 1996, Malkovich starred in the groundbreaking film "Being John Malkovich," written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. This surrealist comedy-drama, which explored themes of identity and consciousness, established him as a versatile actor capable of taking on unconventional roles. Throughout his career, Malkovich has demonstrated an affinity for diverse genres, from the gritty crime drama "Dangerous Liaisons" to the enchanting fantasy "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." His exceptional performances have earned him a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Beyond acting, Malkovich has directed several films, including "The Libertine," starring Johnny Depp, and "10 Items or Less," a quirky romantic comedy. He is also the co-founder of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, nurturing new talent and innovative theater productions. In 2021, Malkovich continues to captivate audiences with his mesmerizing performances and unique artistic vision, cementing his status as a cultural icon and enduring influence on contemporary cinema and theater.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I'm not normal. Neither are my friends. I've never met a normal person in my life."

This quote by John Malkovich suggests that he perceives himself, his friends, and people in general as unique individuals who do not conform to societal norms or expectations of what is considered "normal." He seems to value individuality and non-conformity, implying that he finds the diversity and idiosyncrasies of human nature more interesting than uniformity. This quote also highlights the idea that our perceptions can influence how we view others, and that everyone has their own distinct qualities and characteristics that make them extraordinary in their own way.

"Life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all."

John Malkovich's quote suggests that many of the events or circumstances we perceive as "luck" in life are actually the result of multiple near misses or narrowly avoided outcomes. In essence, it implies that our lives are shaped by a multitude of chances that almost went our way, rather than just a few fortunate moments. This perspective encourages us to recognize and appreciate the many opportunities we encounter daily, rather than attributing success (or failure) solely to random luck.

"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

This quote suggests that one should expect to face adversity and failure in life (falling seven times), but what truly matters is the ability to rise above those challenges and move forward (getting up eight times). It's a reminder that resilience, persistence, and the will to keep trying are key components of personal growth and success.

"I don't like 'normal,' I can't stand it."

This quote suggests a rejection of conformity or monotony in favor of uniqueness, individuality, and creativity. John Malkovich expresses a preference for the unconventional, indicating that he values originality and diversity over uniformity and predictability.

"Art and film are a way to see how other people live, or think they live, or wish they could live."

This quote by John Malkovich suggests that art and films serve as windows into diverse human experiences, offering glimpses of how others may actually live, perceive their lives, or aspire to live. It underscores the transformative power of these mediums in fostering empathy and understanding among people, helping us to connect with each other's stories and appreciate our shared humanity.

The most evocative thing to me is probably when a writer and a group of performers can collectively put together something compelling that asks the really simple question: 'How do we live?'

- John Malkovich

Simple, Question, Compelling, Performers

When you do a really good play, the audience and the performers are looking into the same looking glass, the same microscope. And the specimen they are looking at is human life and that's why I do it, that's why I like it.

- John Malkovich

Play, Audience, Glass, Performers

I think 1973 was the nadir of fashion. When you watch the coverage from that era, you're struck by the astonishing ugliness of the clothes.

- John Malkovich

Think, I Think, Coverage, Nadir

I am inspired by the appearance of a bohemian of the new millennium. I thought it was necessary to update the figure of the bohemian, but not in the traditional way.

- John Malkovich

New, Figure, Traditional Way, Bohemian

I know for a fact that a lot of actors are desperate and unhappy if their careers are not progressing at what they think is the correct rate. They just go crazy if they're not working. I don't feel I'd be that way. You can always get a few people together and put on a play. Maybe not in New York or L.A., but in a lot of other towns, you can.

- John Malkovich

Play, Fact, Other, Progressing

I'm not a Method actor. I don't believe acting should be psychodrama. I look within myself and see what I can find to play the role with. If I'm playing a blind man, I don't go around blindfolded for days. A lot of good actors would, but I don't go in for that very much. I like to just make it up as I go along.

- John Malkovich

Play, Blind, Very, Method Actor

I only have two rules for my newly born daughter: she will dress well and never have sex.

- John Malkovich

Dress, Born, Will, Newly

I don't have a saviour or a royal family.

- John Malkovich

Family, Royal, Royal Family, Saviour

I'm not a psychiatrist. I'm not treating patients.

- John Malkovich

Psychiatrist, Patients, Treating

I mean, a lot of time rehearsals are taken up with other things other than preparing a character.

- John Malkovich

Character, Other, Lot, Rehearsals

I'm more likely to lose my temper on a film set than almost anywhere. Often the level of idiocy is so exalted that it's impossible to comprehend.

- John Malkovich

Set, Comprehend, Likely, Film Set

Most of the women that I like have a haunted quality - they're sort of like women who live in a haunted house all by themselves.

- John Malkovich

House, Like, Sort, Haunted

Sigmund Freud said we act out our own dreams, but if you are only an actor you are not acting out your own dream. You are simply participating in someone else's dream.

- John Malkovich

Dreams, Own, Your, Freud

I think when I went to psychoanalysis, I actually believed that people said what they meant. This was my whole problem.

- John Malkovich

Think, I Think, Meant, Psychoanalysis

It's tough to figure out how do we compete in Europe and North America, when obviously a living wage for us is very different than a living wage in Indonesia.

- John Malkovich

Compete, Very, Figure, Indonesia

When you think of how history is revealed, we know certain things to be facts at certain periods of time, which turn out not to be so factual as time marches on.

- John Malkovich

Think, Which, Certain Things, Marches

I'll never be the biggest kind of star; I'll be like Bob Duvall, respected as an actor but a lot of people can't identify the face. I don't have the personality of a big star, or the looks of a Mel Gibson or a Paul Newman, or the style of a George C. Scott.

- John Malkovich

Big, Paul Newman, Newman, Respected

I don't lose my temper very often now, and if I do, it's well deserved.

- John Malkovich

Lose, Temper, Very, Deserved

I admire sensible, kind people. They're not often famous.

- John Malkovich

Famous, Admire, Kind, Sensible

Scary monsters are like Hula Hoops. They come in and out of fashion.

- John Malkovich

Like, Monsters, Come, Hoops

'Secretariat' was such a magnificent animal, unbelievably beautiful and powerful. It's always nice to see something that close to perfection, a reason to celebrate.

- John Malkovich

Celebrate, Reason, Always, Perfection

I've permitted myself to learn and to fail with some regularity. And that is probably the one thing I was given, and that I'm still grateful for.

- John Malkovich

Grateful, Some, Given, Permitted

I'm not a very skeptical person.

- John Malkovich

Person, Very, Skeptical

Fashion is chaotic, and it can be an aggravation, too, but it is at its best when it allows you to express yourself.

- John Malkovich

Best, Chaotic, Too, Aggravation

I have driven school buses, sold egg rolls and painted houses, and I have often wondered what my life would have been like if I hadn't gone into acting. Mind you, it's a great life, going around pretending you're other people and getting paid ridiculous sums of money for it.

- John Malkovich

My Life, Other, Been, Great Life

I always liked clothes; since I was very, very young, I was interested. I studied costume as part of my theatre education.

- John Malkovich

Education, Always, Very, Costume

Actors generally get to do things you probably shouldn't do in real life - well, at least as much as one might like to or be tempted to. Though I suppose a lot of actors just go ahead and do it, don't they?

- John Malkovich

Life, Ahead, Least, Tempted

I'm a little bit phobic about stains on my clothes, so I never travel without a little packet of organic stain remover.

- John Malkovich

About, Little Bit, Bit, Organic

Well, I design costumes because I started with the theater in Chicago, but somehow a few lines just sort of fell to me to do it. And I studied it in school and I always liked it.

- John Malkovich

Always, Started, Studied, Costumes

I always wanted to be fashionable.

- John Malkovich

Always, Wanted, Fashionable

If you don't interfere with me, I'll always do something really good.

- John Malkovich

Good, Me, Always, Interfere

I think with actors, if you just don't set about trying to crush their confidence immediately, you're usually OK.

- John Malkovich

Think, I Think, Set, OK

I'm not a control maniac.

- John Malkovich

Control, Maniac

I grew up in the Midwest, quite far from any ocean or any beach, a million miles. I think for kids who grew up where I did, the idea of California, surfing and beach life was so exotic and glamorous.

- John Malkovich

Surfing, Idea, I Think, Exotic

I was never a fanatical movie person.

- John Malkovich

Never, Person, Movie, Fanatical

I just start with a pencil and paper. I don't want something too trendy, too fashion-forward. I don't want to make something I consider a regular person couldn't wear with blue jeans. But I don't want to make something that other people make, either - like a skinny black suit in a shiny material that you can buy anywhere.

- John Malkovich

Other, Wear, Buy, Regular

You can't work in the movies. Movies are all about lighting. Very few filmmakers will concentrate on the story. You get very little rehearsal time, so anything you do onscreen is a kind of speed painting.

- John Malkovich

Will, Rehearsal, Very, Concentrate

There's a reason screens are only this thick.

- John Malkovich

Reason, Only, Thick, Screens

I don't like things too overstated in the cut or too perfect.

- John Malkovich

Perfect, Like, Cut, Overstated

We have a tendency to think everyone's idiotic and everyone's only doing something idiotic, and the world is controlled by a not-so-secret group of morons. There's great truth in that, I suppose, but then it's also not true.

- John Malkovich

Doing, Think, Idiotic, Group

Most filmmakers' entire body of knowledge is of other movies. When they describe things, they describe them in relation to other movies. That's why we have so many cyclical movies that look like other movies. But I'm not cynical. I even go to some of those movies.

- John Malkovich

Why, Some, Other, Cynical

Even if you do succeed most people wouldn't notice anyway.

- John Malkovich

Succeed, Most, Even, Notice

Quite often - a lot of the work I had done had been extensively with women. Most especially in the theater, but also quite often in the movies. That has its own delights, and maybe pitfalls too.

- John Malkovich

Work, Been, Maybe, Pitfalls

I like design, I like details, to me it is just another form of self-expression.

- John Malkovich

Design, Like, Form, Self-Expression

Where women are concerned, the rule is never to go out with anyone better dressed than you.

- John Malkovich

Go, Concerned, Rule, Women Are

People get up, they go to work, they have their lives, but you'll never see the headlines say, 'Six billion people got along rather well today.' You'll have the headline about the 30 people who shot each other.

- John Malkovich

Other, Rather, About, Headlines

I don't want a trillion-dollar empire to run.

- John Malkovich

Run, Want, Empire

I find it hard to pre-plan every element of everything I do. It's not my thing.

- John Malkovich

Find, Everything, Hard, Element

Some directors expect you to do everything; write, be producer, psychiatrist. Some just want you to die in a tragic accident during the shooting so they can get the insurance.

- John Malkovich

Insurance, Die, Some, Tragic

If you're too smart it can limit you because you spend so much time thinking that you don't do anything.

- John Malkovich

Smart, Thinking, Anything, So Much Time

I lost seventy pounds eating nothing but Jello for 4 months. But of course there is great variety in the colors! I think, if I remember correctly, it's 230 calories for a whole bowl. Maybe 270? In the 5th month, I added fruit.

- John Malkovich

I Remember, Maybe, I Think, Pounds

I love Chicago, but in a lot of ways it's a disappointment. You can work there for years and years, and because you're in Chicago, you don't get the recognition. It has some of the best theater in the country, but when they shoot a movie there, they bring in all their actors.

- John Malkovich

Love, Country, Some, Shoot

I'm an atheist.

- John Malkovich

Atheist

If I had spent as much time in the weight room as I did designing football uniforms, I probably would have had a free college education.

- John Malkovich

Education, College, Spent, Designing

My father was an exceptionally strong influence on me.

- John Malkovich

Father, Strong, Me, Exceptionally

I was a very good baseball and football player, but my father always told me I was much more interested in how I looked playing baseball or football than in actually playing. There's great truth in that.

- John Malkovich

Always, Very, Looked, Great Truth

You know, I'm really not interested in someone telling me that something's good or bad.

- John Malkovich

Bad, Someone, Telling, Not Interested

I love to watch good actors who surprise and amuse me.

- John Malkovich

Love, Surprise, I Love, Amuse

I can see how, given a certain degree of sensitivities, proclivities and rage, I could have ended up differently.

- John Malkovich

Could, Given, Certain Degree, Rage

I believe in humans.

- John Malkovich

Believe, I Believe, Humans, I Believe In

I was a very good baseball player and football player as a kid.

- John Malkovich

Kid, Football Player, Very, Baseball Player

It's not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others.

- John Malkovich

Gift, Mine, Given, Criticise

I probably have more female friends than any man I've ever met. What I like about them is that almost always they're generally mentally tougher, and they're better listeners, and they're more capable of surviving things.

- John Malkovich

Capable, About, Almost, Female

I wouldn't describe myself as lacking in confidence, but I would just say that - the ghosts you chase you never catch.

- John Malkovich

Confidence, Myself, Lacking, Catch

I have at times spoken with my peers and the head of the actors' union about why we're not paid when we appear in, say, a 'TMZ' production, but there seems to be no real interest in combatting it.

- John Malkovich

Production, Peers, About, Appear

Imagine how asleep or utterly unperceptive and clueless you would have to be not to see yourself as absurd for the most part.

- John Malkovich

Part, Imagine, Most, Clueless

I think people seem to sort of associate me with danger. And I don't see that at all.

- John Malkovich

Think, See, I Think, Associate

I never really did a western western.

- John Malkovich

Never, Really, Did, Western

The world is ruled by violence, or at least the imminent threat of violence. It always has been.

- John Malkovich

World, Always, Been, Ruled

I'm very much a typical midwesterner, and I don't think the condition is curable.

- John Malkovich

Think, Condition, Very, Typical

Unlike my grandfather or my brother, I've actually been able to make some money at a racetrack.

- John Malkovich

Some, Been, Actually, Unlike

I prefer to conduct my life based on how I treat people.

- John Malkovich

My Life, How, Based, Conduct

I know fashion can be intensely goofy, but it is something I've always taken pretty seriously.

- John Malkovich

Goofy, Pretty, Always, Intensely

Theater is so ephemeral, and I love that.

- John Malkovich

Love, Theater, I Love, Ephemeral

I brought my first fall/winter line to New York, and it was confiscated by U.S. Customs. They asked, 'What is the value of this?' I said, 'I'm not so good with existential questions.'

- John Malkovich

New, Line, Brought, Existential

I think I was born at a time when an American male had so many advantages and opportunities that weren't available to men before or after, just a very brief period.

- John Malkovich

Think, Very, Brief, Opportunities

People always say life is short. I've never been convinced of that - mine seems to have a tendency to go on and on.

- John Malkovich

Life Is Short, Always, Mine, Seems

I'm more comfortable with whatever's wrong with me than my father was whenever he felt he failed or didn't measure up to the standard he set.

- John Malkovich

Standard, Set, Dad, Failed

I'm supposed to be a pretty good theater actor.

- John Malkovich

Actor, Pretty, Theater, Pretty Good

I still have a temper, I suppose.

- John Malkovich

Temper, Still, Suppose

My life before children I don't really remember. I've heard references to it, but I really don't remember.

- John Malkovich

Remember, My Life, Before, Heard

My father was a very contradictory man.

- John Malkovich

Father, Man, Very, Contradictory

I am inspired by the appearance of a bohemian of the new millennium.

- John Malkovich

I Am, New, Appearance, Bohemian

I don't throw things or yell.

- John Malkovich

Things, Yell, Throw

I'd hate to see any film I'm involved in fail, especially artistically but also business-wise.

- John Malkovich

Hate, See, Fail, Involved

I haven't physically attacked anyone in a couple of years.

- John Malkovich

Couple, Physically, Anyone, Attacked

In New York in the Forties or Fifties, everybody's in a suit, an overcoat and a hat.

- John Malkovich

New, Everybody, Overcoat, Fifties

Nothing you do particularly matters. But I'm not sure that's a great excuse for doing it poorly.

- John Malkovich

Doing, Poorly, Particularly, Excuse

It never occurred to me to be an actor.

- John Malkovich

Me, Never, Actor, Occurred

As an actor there are no drawbacks.

- John Malkovich

Actor, Drawbacks

I don't mind tracksuits. At the track.

- John Malkovich

Mind, Track

I don't wake up drenched in sweat because I haven't been on stage in years.

- John Malkovich

Stage, Been, Wake, Sweat

I don't care what other people think. I don't think it matters.

- John Malkovich

People, Think, Other, Matters

You can be a mason and build 50 buildings, but it doesn't mean you can design one.

- John Malkovich

Mean, Buildings, Build, Mason

I can have incredible self-discipline. But see, I think it's obviously a form of stupidity.

- John Malkovich

Think, See, I Think, Self-Discipline

I wouldn't say anything I ever did in film would be something I'd use the word proud about. I've done better work in the theater.

- John Malkovich

Work, Proud, Use, Theater

I like to direct movies, but I don't like to goof around for eight years talking about it.

- John Malkovich

Movies, Like, Direct, Eight

Anybody doing something brings something to it.

- John Malkovich

Doing, Something, Anybody, Brings

Of course it's trivial, but then most things are.

- John Malkovich

Course, Most, Things, Trivial

I wasn't really raised to be the type of person to have doubts.

- John Malkovich

Person, Raised, Type, Doubts

I'm a little bit of a fabric lunatic.

- John Malkovich

Fabric, Lunatic, Bit, Little Bit

Utopia means elsewhere.

- John Malkovich

Utopia, Means, Elsewhere

A dog that has rabies probably will do things it wouldn't do if it didn't have rabies. But that doesn't change the fact that it has rabies.

- John Malkovich

Change, Fact, Will, Dog

The projects I look for to produce or direct would not be ones in which I would want to act.

- John Malkovich

Act, Projects, Which, Produce

We're all animals.

- John Malkovich

Animals

I don't want to be boring. But that's not always easy.

- John Malkovich

Want, Easy, Always, Boring

I'm more boring and more conservative.

- John Malkovich

Conservative, More, Boring

I go around the world, working with all kinds of people who I love.

- John Malkovich

Love, World, I Love, Kinds

You can't take a play someone has directed and do whatever you want with it.

- John Malkovich

Play, Someone, Take, Directed

Things are so much global and Americanised.

- John Malkovich

Things, Much, Global

I don't need to be liked.

- John Malkovich

Need, Liked

I don't understand how somebody wouldn't have a sense of humor about themselves.

- John Malkovich

Humor, How, Themselves, Sense Of Humor

Well, I like to have fun at work.

- John Malkovich

Work, Well, Like, Have Fun

Failure's a natural part of life.

- John Malkovich

Life, Natural, Part, Failure

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