I've made movies that I thought were good. I've made movies that I thought were okay, but then I was very good. And sometimes you're in a movie and you think, I wish more people saw that - because you're good. And it just works out that the movie gets lost. But that's show business.
Interpretation
Not all good creative works receive the recognition they deserve, and that is a common reality in the entertainment industry.
Christopher Walken reflects on the unpredictability of success in the film industry. He expresses his personal experiences of creating movies that he believed to be of high quality, yet they did not receive the audience appreciation he hoped for. This highlights the often ungrateful nature of show business, where talent does not always equate to recognition.
In practice
This quote can be used during a discussion on the challenges filmmakers face.
I have this theory about words. There's a thousand ways to say "Pass the salt". It could mean, you know, "Can I have some salt?" or it could mean, "I love you.". It could mean, "I'm very annoyed with you". Really, the list could go on and on. Words are little bombs, and they have a lot of energy inside them.
People think that my favorite roles to do are villains, but I find comedy to be the most challenging and rewarding.
Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist, I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving on the road at night I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
I've made movies that I thought were okay, but then I was very good. And sometimes you're in a movie and you think, 'I wish more people saw that' - because you're good. And it just works out that the movie gets lost. But that's show business.
I'm in a place in my life where I get offered parts that I didn't get offered before - fathers and uncles and grandfathers and so on. And it took me a long time to get to that place, but I'm glad because it opens up new territory.
I never know when I am being funny, and the other way too. I don't think you can think about that. I don't think you can try to be funny. Some people are just funny.
It takes 25 years to learn to draw, one hour to learn to paint.
Sometimes when you're inside a story, it's almost better if you don't think too much about its wider cultural significance or if you don't think about how audiences might react to it. That takes you out of the reality of the situation you're committing to as you're telling the story.
Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.
The only thing that's important is the legend created by the picture, and not whether it continues to exist itself.
Let's face it, writing is hell.
Art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstones of our judgement. The artist... faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an offensive state.
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