Vincent Cassel Quotes

I always had the sense of being in the spotlight, being on stage, being looked at.

I feel like the so-called bad guys are never totally bad. I guess it's the closest thing I can do to reality: people act nice but nobody really is nice. We all have to balance that with something dark.

Neither of us are workaholics. I think the key thing is to accept that if you only exist through what you do, then you become what you do, and this is very wrong.

When you have a bunch of scripts that you have to read, the less you have, the better it is, because otherwise, everything is already planned and I think that's a terrible feeling.

I think I'm actually more vulnerable than people imagine.

I really enjoy being an actor!

The minute I started being recognised, I became much more discreet.

If kids really made all the parents better, there wouldn't be crazy kids in the world.

I wanted to be an actor to act, and now, being an actor, you have to dress up, you have to be nice, you have to be smart, you have to be sexy, you have to be ready.

I'm a little angry in life.

I worked with young directors all my life, only young directors.

If the guy behind the camera is not good, the pictures are bad. It's still you, and it's the same lines and everything, but it doesn't work.

I did direct two short movies. I learned many things, and one of the things I learned was that I am not a director. It has to be visceral, and it's not for me. I feel much more comfortable acting.

When somebody is talking to you about something terrible on set with lines, and you believe what he says, sometimes it gives a strange vibe, because you wonder when that person is talking if he's talking about something that really happened to him and he's using the character.

You can't escape from what you are.

Yes. The way people behave, the paradoxes, the contradictions. All these things we have to live with and still pretend that everything is only black or white. That, I think, is the most interesting thing in human nature. The fact that we have to do one thing and pretend something else. That's when it becomes very interesting. If you can literally speak the way you feel, then it's not interesting anymore. It's when you have to lie that it becomes interesting.

Cinema is entertainment, and people go to the movies because they want to feel good and forget about everything.

I'm producing more, but I think to direct, one has to have a burning desire, and that's not me. I'd rather do something else.

It's always interesting to see a director trying different things, and on top of it, doing it right each and almost every time.

Perfection is not just about control, it is also about letting go.

I think American audiences like gangster movies. It's part of the culture.

I was thinking of going to London drama schools or to New York, because France didn't accommodate the things I wanted to do in film.

I always compare human beings to animals. It's a nice way to figure out who they are.

I think life is short, and you can't spend time doing things just to be on set to reassure yourself that people are not going to forget about you.

There is this idea that it's very different from the French point of view to work in America blah, blah, blah. But I think it's different from one person to the other, not from one country to the other.

Working with David Cronenberg or Darren Aronofsky or even Steven Soderbergh isn't really like a typical Hollywood movie. These are true artists, and have a certain amount of freedom when they work, and they're more like independent filmmakers making their way through big studios.

I come from an acting family, my father was an actor, and I had to fight my way and just create my own identity.

The only person standing in your way is you.

Cronenberg's a lot of fun, and that a lot of people don't know watching his movies. He doesn't take himself seriously. He's still reinventing himself.

I've always loved the idea of changing myself, wearing costumes and disguises. It takes you back to being a kid, to dressing up.

I'm more attracted to the bad guys. Why? Because in real life, I don't know any good guys. I know okay guys. I know polite guys. I know people who can control themselves.

I don't really shop any more. I only do it when I have to. I think it is very overrated.

I have learned that acting is not about beauty.

I really like romantic comedies and light movies and everything but I think - I don't know where it comes from - but when you're doing violent movies, you're closer to reality.

People pretend to be nice, people pretend to be smooth, and polite and everything, but this is only an appearance, because the way we're built as human beings is only in paradox and contradictions.

I'm an actor, that's what I do every day. Dressing up is part of my job. But whatever you wear you should always be yourself: never go totally with the fashion but use what there is available to be an individual.

I don't think France is a racist country, I really don't, but we do still have many problems with our immigrant past, and there's a shame that goes with that, that works both ways, in the host and in the post-immigrant generation.

Women? I'm still working on the subject. I haven't finished my studies. I would say I'm so happy that they're around. This is the salt and pepper of life. This is what makes me wake up in the morning - even more than work, really.

I love French style from the Thirties and Forties. French movie stars like Jean Gabin and Yves Montand had so much natural, effortless style.

To work with somebody you love makes filming faster, more fun.

Good guys need to be a little dirty otherwise they're just boring.

The thing is, as an actor, I get bored a little bit. I love to act. And between action and cuts, when you work for somebody great, it's wonderful and I still love it. The moment where you create, that instant is still magic to me. But, all the rest, I get bored with it - all the waiting, and the fact that you have to make appearances, that you have to share your life.

When eventually I started to act a bit more, I realised that circus school had taught me something that a lot of actors my age didn't have: physicality. They didn't know how to move. Acting is not all about talking. There is something animalistic about it.

My father is best known for his light comedies, and I'm best known for crazy bad guys with short tempers.