Peter Riegert

You rely on a lot of things about learning to play a particular character.

Setting a movie in an earlier age gives it a mythical quality.

I apply the three gag rule, which is if I can read a script without gagging more than three times, then maybe I can say yes to this job.

When you get older, unless you're a huge star, the parts become less and the competition becomes greater. Because the guys left standing are the best.

In 1962, the smallest things were upsetting to authority. It wasn't the Civil Rights Movement. It wasn't the Anti-war Movement. It was something else, but it was a harbinger of what was to come.

There is a temptation for an actor to editorialize what they're doing. And you can't do that with Pinter. It's almost like a musical score. His lines are so specific, but they can mean different things to different people, like an alternating current.

As a matter of fact, part of being Jewish is the whole question of what it is to be a Jew.

You realize Shakespeare wasn't stuck for an idea when he said, 'All the world's a stage.'

It never occurs to me that acting with a superstar is something to worry about. I figure the bigger the better because more will be demanded of me.

We don't think of them as acting, but we take on certain characteristics based on where we function, and those relationships draw out aspects of who we are as people. And that's what acting is. Different parts draw out different parts of your nature.

There are times when you have to fight for something you believe in, that you love.

I did a play in high school, then one in college. My first professional experience was off-off-Broadway. I'm conveniently blocking the title. I'm sure I was terrible.