Michael Caine quotes - page 4

When I look in the mirror, I see someone who's happy with how he looks, because I was never one of the handsome Hollywood people. And I've had success as I've gotten older, because I'm able to play characters. I no longer get the girl, but I get the part. (Michael Caine)
I regard the theater as a woman I loved dearly who treated me like dirt. View quote
Michael Caine
I was a repertory actor, which meant that I did a play every week. I was a different character every week; for a year, I was doing 40 or 50 characters. View quote
Michael Caine
To be a movie star, you have to carry a movie. And to carry a movie where you play the title role is the supreme example. View quote
Michael Caine
What a lot of people don't realize about gangs, in my opinion, is that a gang is not there to attack you. Eighty percent of the people in a gang are there to stop anyone from attacking them. You join a gang for protection, not to go out and hit someone. View quote
Michael Caine
To me, growing old is great. It's the very best thing - considering the alternative. View quote
Michael Caine
The basic rule of human nature is that powerful people speak slowly and subservient people quickly -- because if they don't speak fast nobody will listen to them. View quote
Michael Caine
Do I believe in God? Yes I do. When you've had a life like mine, you have to. View quote
Michael Caine
Movie acting is about covering the machinery. Stage acting is about exposing the machinery. In cinema, you should think the actor is playing himself, if he's that good. It looks very easy. It should. But it's not, I assure you. View quote
Michael Caine
I don't worry about the last shot or the next shot. I concentrate. Every shot gets a clean slate. And when a shot is over, I wipe it out absolutely. Tell a joke or something. If you worry about how you looked, how well you did, you'll go insane. View quote
Michael Caine
The difference between a movie star and a movie actor is this - a movie star will say, 'How can I change the script to suit me?' and a movie actor will say. 'How can I change me to suit the script?' (Michael Caine)
My wife comes with me on all the movies, but she is not an appendage to a film star or anything like that. She is a completely intertwined partner. She is the other half of me. Also, we're still very much in love with each other. We always have been, we always will be. View quote
Michael Caine
The American cinema in general always made stories about working-class people; the British rarely did. Any person with my working-class background would be a villain or a comic cipher, usually badly played, and with a rotten accent. There weren't a lot of guys in England for me to look up to. View quote
Michael Caine
My wife, my daughters, even my grandchildren are funny. You've got to keep a sense of humor because anger destroys you. View quote
Michael Caine
Hollywood is a cross between a health farm, a recreation center and an insane asylum. It's a company town, and I happen to like the company! View quote
Michael Caine
I usually control the environment I'm in, but my control is very quiet and subtle. View quote
Michael Caine
I've always loved reprehensible people because they're so much more interesting to play on screen. View quote
Michael Caine
I was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. Imagine signing that autograph! You'd get a broken arm. So I changed my name to Michael Caine after Humphrey Bogart's 'The Caine Mutiny,' which was playing in the theater across from the telephone booth where I learned that I'd gotten my first TV job. View quote
Michael Caine
I'm a frustrated stand-up comic. If you hand me a microphone and I get one laugh, then I'll go on for 20 minutes. View quote
Michael Caine
Am I a car aficionado? No: for me, cars have always been just for transport. I didn't even know anyone who had a car until I was 14 or 15. View quote
Michael Caine
I learned about life before I went into the theater, which is why I've been so happy. I was a soldier. (Michael Caine)
When you're a movie star and you're young, you are always playing someone who's a better fighter, a better lover, a better everything than you. View quote
Michael Caine
Presenting the Oscars was the most nerve-racking job I have ever done in show business. It's very much a live show: they have comedy writers waiting in the wings, and as you come off between presentations, they hand you an appropriate gag to tell. View quote
Michael Caine
I've made the transition from star to character actor and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. View quote
Michael Caine
In the sixties, everyone you knew became famous. My flatmate was Terence Stamp. My barber was Vidal Sassoon. David Hockney did the menu in a restaurant I went to. I didn't know anyone unknown who didn't become famous. View quote
Michael Caine