Thomas Middleditch Quotes

Powerful Thomas Middleditch for Daily Growth

About Thomas Middleditch

Thomas Middleditch is a Canadian actor and comedian who was born on February 10, 1982, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Raised by his mother, Middleditch developed an early interest in performing arts, participating in school plays and local theater productions. His career took a significant turn when he moved to Victoria, British Columbia, and began performing stand-up comedy at the age of 19. He later joined Vancouver's improv comedy group, The Mess Hall, where he honed his skills in improvisational acting. In 2011, Middleditch landed a breakthrough role as Richard Hendrix in the HBO series 'Silicon Valley,' a character that earned him critical acclaim and numerous award nominations. His portrayal of a socially awkward entrepreneur struggling to make his mark in the tech industry resonated with audiences worldwide. Middleditch's work extends beyond television, including roles in films like 'The Final Girls' (2015), 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' (2019), and 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' (2018). He has also lent his voice to several animated projects, such as 'Penguins of Madagascar' and 'BoJack Horseman.' Thomas Middleditch is known for his unique comedic style, which often involves self-deprecating humor and a knack for improvisation. His work reflects his ability to embody complex characters with depth and authenticity. Despite his success, Middleditch remains grounded, crediting his upbringing and early experiences in theater and comedy as key influences on his career.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Comedy is just a higher form of empathy."

Thomas Middleditch suggests that comedy, as an artform, is deeply rooted in empathy - the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Through humor, comedians tap into shared human experiences, amplifying and highlighting universal emotions we all feel, making them more relatable and digestible. In this way, comedy functions as a bridge connecting people, fostering understanding and compassion, thereby enhancing our collective empathy.


"I'm not a very confident guy, so I always feel like I have to prove myself on some level."

Thomas Middleditch expresses his personal struggle with self-doubt in this quote. Despite being a successful actor, he feels the need to constantly prove himself due to an underlying lack of confidence. This highlights that even those who achieve greatness may still grapple with insecurities and feel compelled to validate their abilities and worth to others or themselves.


"I think every actor wants to be in a movie where people are screaming your name at the top of their lungs."

This quote suggests that actors aspire to achieve such acclaim and recognition that fans will shout their names enthusiastically during screenings or public appearances. It signifies an actor's desire for success, popularity, and impact in their craft, where they leave a lasting impression on the audience. Essentially, it highlights the dream of every actor to have the kind of stardom where they are instantly recognized and adored by many.


"Acting is just me hiding behind another person."

In this quote, Thomas Middleditch expresses that acting is a means for him to conceal his true self and adopt the persona of another character. He uses the phrase "hiding" to suggest that while on stage or screen, he becomes someone else rather than himself. This quote reveals an actor's ability to immerse themselves in a role and portray different personalities convincingly, giving audiences the illusion that they are witnessing real life.


"I'm not naturally funny, but I work really hard at it."

This quote underscores the idea that humor, like any skill, can be cultivated through diligent effort. Thomas Middleditch may not have an innate or natural talent for comedy, but he recognizes this as a weakness and invests time and energy into honing his craft. It also implies a strong work ethic, self-awareness, and the understanding that mastery often requires intentional practice.


I wasn't necessarily always funny, I don't know if I necessarily am - some would argue not - but I was definitely, always been a strange one. Definitely always an odd duck.

- Thomas Middleditch

Some, Always, Been, Duck

A lot of comedies, I think, make the wrong choice of having the straight man being this bland emotional conduit for the audience.

- Thomas Middleditch

Think, Audience, I Think, Straight Man

Married life is the same as dating life, except now you have a ring, and the state of California has a vested financial interest in the outcome of your marriage.

- Thomas Middleditch

Financial, Ring, Your, Married Life

I was a little bit of a tech lord. Not a lord. More of a duke or a nobleman. I was into that stuff as a kid. Nothing too crazy.

- Thomas Middleditch

More, Lord, Tech, Duke

You can't predict the future, and you've got to go with your gut on these things, and I'm sure if you speak to a laundry list of CEOs and people who have gone through the startup process themselves, they'll say it's an endless hurdle race, and you are inevitably going to catch your legs on hurdles, and it's just how you roll with that.

- Thomas Middleditch

Through, Gut, Roll, Inevitably

In any awards ceremony, if you're a finicky person like myself, you can pick a multitude of things to nag about. I get frustrated with the comedy category because it feels like it gets sidelined a lot of the time for all kinds of things - not sidelined, marginalized.

- Thomas Middleditch

Feels, About, Frustrated, Marginalized

Ricky Gervais, met him a couple times. He wouldn't remember it.

- Thomas Middleditch

Remember, Couple, Times, Ricky

Chicago was where I realized that improv is its own thing, its own art form. And through that, you kind of develop a work ethic of not selling it short.

- Thomas Middleditch

Art, Kind, Through, Ethic

I grew up on '80s action movies... Jean Claude Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Stallone... If there were ever some opportunity to do that, it'd be great.

- Thomas Middleditch

Some, Van, Action Movies, Jean

When you're on film or TV, essentially you're in front of the camera. Unless it's a Tim Burton thing, the desire is to be real and grounded.

- Thomas Middleditch

Desire, Film, TV, None

I'm going to be all over your TV for the foreseeable future.

- Thomas Middleditch

Over, Going, TV, Foreseeable Future

I repurposed an old World War II merchant ship door into one of the best coffee tables you have ever seen. I have also made little cabinets and media centers.

- Thomas Middleditch

Best, Ship, Door, Old World

You get a lot of apps and companies that are trying to sell you on something that's totally useless or potentially unhealthy. Only occasionally does something really worthwhile really come out.

- Thomas Middleditch

Something, Sell, Come, Unhealthy

I want to work with Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coen Brothers, or Spike Jonze.

- Thomas Middleditch

Work, Brothers, Anderson, Spike

There's all these little bubbles of nerddom.

- Thomas Middleditch

Little, Bubbles

Both the benefit and the terrifying aspect of standup is when it's going poorly, you've only yourself to blame. There's no one to bail you out. But when it's going great, all that approval is for you.

- Thomas Middleditch

Going, Terrifying, Poorly, Bail

I laugh at stuff like Snapchat thinking it can change the world.

- Thomas Middleditch

Change The World, World, Snapchat

My choice growing up was the 'Star Wars' role playing game. At that time in the Nineties, they had a pretty robust pen and paper system.

- Thomas Middleditch

Game, Pretty, Role, Nineties

I'm a bit of a curmudgeon. I don't like Valentine's Day and New Year's and Halloween.

- Thomas Middleditch

New, Halloween, Like, Valentine

'Baskets' is incredible - 'Baskets' is so funny and poignant and sad and dark.

- Thomas Middleditch

Sad, Dark, Incredible, Poignant

Part of me wants a bunch of jocks to go to Comic-Con and call them all dweebs so they can be like, 'Pump the brakes a little bit.' But that said, it's all positive. It's just, of course, I'm going to find some cynicism in it.

- Thomas Middleditch

Some, Comic-Con, Part, Brakes

Game design has always been a secondary passion. I don't know how to program, though, so I'm at this strange crossroads where I'm like, 'I wonder if I can convince people who know what they're doing to hear me out on one of my ideas.'

- Thomas Middleditch

Game, Doing, Been, Secondary

In D&D, you're only in that fantasy world. But with GURPS, you can, like, play a game that's Los Angeles film noir, or a game where the premise is you are world-jumpers, and you can go to different worlds.

- Thomas Middleditch

Game, Play, Worlds, Noir

I've spoken to people in Silicon Valley, and many times they have said to me, 'X storyline, or that thing that happened in your show - pretty much verbatim has happened to me.' And it's either identical or similar enough to be scary.

- Thomas Middleditch

Silicon Valley, Show, Your, Storyline

I'm not joking - it's a top-three dream of mine to be on a comedy on HBO and to have it directed by Mike Judge and Alec Berg, and then on top of that, have it be with friends, two of them I've known for 10 years.

- Thomas Middleditch

Mine, Directed, Alec, Joking

After going to theater school, and then subsequently dropping out, I would say that when I first went to Chicago and learned long-form improv, that was a far better acting workshop than any acting school I've been to.

- Thomas Middleditch

Out, Been, Would, Subsequently

It's not about creating 22 episodes indefinitely for as long as you can do.

- Thomas Middleditch

Creating, About, Episodes

I don't think anyone can do any character that doesn't have at least some ounce of themselves in it. You are who you are, and your brain is drawing on things that you've experienced.

- Thomas Middleditch

Think, Some, Least, Ounce

The first home system we had was an Apple II, and I remember playing a game called 'Conan.' It should have been called 'Tarzan' because you were essentially Conan running around a forest with a boomerang, but it was obviously Tarzan.

- Thomas Middleditch

Game, I Remember, Been, Tarzan

I grew up in a hippy town, so I did my playing outdoors and skiing and all that, but then I also had my nerd friends that I went and hosted LAN parties with, get my 'Counter-Strike' on.

- Thomas Middleditch

Skiing, Town, Also, Nerd

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