Matt Dillon quotes

Matt Dillon is an American actor and film director who gained fame in the late 1970s and 1980s. Known for his performances in movies such as "The Outsiders," "Drugstore Cowboy," and "There's Something About Mary," he has demonstrated great versatility. He continues to be recognized for his impactful roles and contributions to both independent and mainstream cinema. Here are 50 of his quotes:

As an actor, you can't be off the market for too long.

Matt Dillon

I don't like movies where everything happens fast. I like the buildup, the obstacles, the mystery.

Matt Dillon

It's tough when you started out as young as I did to look back and see how far I've come. I try to be easy on myself and go 'Look man, you were younger, you were learning; you learn, you grow.' But I'm not my best judge. I always feel like my best work is still ahead of me.

Matt Dillon

The great, rewarding thing about directing is that you're overseeing the whole thing. When you're an actor, you're just one department.

Matt Dillon

The growing pains of ... being an actor, that was a little frustrating at times because you feel like you have great capacity to do many things. And yet there seems to be a misunderstanding about who you are and what you're trying to do. And that requires patience, and people eventually will understand.

Matt Dillon

I think the reason I've survived that long is because I've taken my work so seriously. Maybe sometimes too seriously, but it's always been important for me to do my best regardless of the film. I think the biggest compliment I get is when people on the street stop me and say they've liked the choices I've made.

Matt Dillon

I think a lot of directors, they come out of film school, they don't know anything about acting. Or they're writers that don't know anything about the process. And I think they're afraid sometimes to talk to actors and be honest with actors.

Matt Dillon

It seems like a cliche, but you do grow up a lot faster when you travel a lot, go through things like this interview, spend time away from home and hang around with other actors. It's inevitable that you're not going to have a so-called normal childhood.

Matt Dillon

I have always wanted to play different kinds of stuff, but it's hard, first to find good material, and then to change people's perception of you so they'll let you do it. I mean, I would really like to play a poet, but once they get this notion of you as a street guy, it's hard to change that.

Matt Dillon

I like to try different things. A good strong character and a good story are the key things for me when I'm considering a script. But I don't want to do the same kinds of things over and over. I like to challenge myself and do projects that dare to push the limits.

Matt Dillon

I think anytime you can do something you haven't seen or done in a film before, it's always a great day as an actor.

Matt Dillon

I sometimes think love is God's way of hoodwinking people into having kids. You fall in love, and all that passion goes into procreating and wanting children. I've felt that need to want to raise a child. It's a creative urge. But you can express that creative urge in other ways.

Matt Dillon

I don't pride myself on being self-educated because I don't like to brag about the fact that I'm a high school dropout. My school wasn't prepared to have somebody leave for three months out of the year to be in a movie. Graduating wasn't in the cards in a conventional sense if I was going to continue acting. I could get my GED, or could I? I'd have to study up for that.

Matt Dillon

When I went to the Crash premiere I left before they showed the scene of me pulling over Thandie Newton in the car. It was too disturbing. It's a character up there, but I still see me.

Matt Dillon

I only hear my own voice. When you start hearing other voices, then it's time to worry.

Matt Dillon

The worst thing I could be accused of is that I'm a one-way dude, only out for myself. But the worst thing a woman can do is not to say anything. Especially when you're starting a relationship.

Matt Dillon

I don't know why, but audiences are often sympathetic to thieves. Sometimes they are more sympathetic to thieves then they are to earnest people. What does that say about society?

Matt Dillon

One thing that everybody told me about directing was, 'Never compromise'. And the whole job is a compromise. So it's very paradoxical. How do you not compromise when the whole thing is about compromise?

Matt Dillon

Sunsets are great. Sunrises are a mixed bag. You either got up way too early or went to bed way too late.

Matt Dillon

One of my greatest fears is not being able to change, to be caught in a never-ending cycle of sameness. Growth is so important.

Matt Dillon

In politics there are so many holes, so many contradictions, you don't know what's happening.

Matt Dillon

It was being young and sensitive and an actor. There was a lot of pressure, everything was a hurdle.

Matt Dillon