Before 'Animal House' came out to open up a huge market, there just weren't parts for young guys. That genre of film was my ticket in... One of my first jobs was with Bill Murray in 'Stripes.'
Judge Reinhold
The message I always received was God is good. You're bad. Try harder. I pretty much kept my hand up at anything that represented God.
I was a lousy waiter, dealing with people and having people in your face like that.
A lot of things haven't changed - clothes and stuff have - but kids keep working after-school jobs and keep getting into terrible trouble in relationships. That's not going to stop.
I want to do things of significance, things that will inspire people to know how good life can be.
My first car was a '63 Chevy station wagon that I called Ramona, because that's the sound it made. 'Farm Use' was painted on the back. It was right off the set of 'Hee Haw.'
It's very easy to make a movie that confirms the worst in us.
People are real quick to jump at the easiest way to define you.
I haven't always played nice guys. In 'Gremlins,' I was a conceited, pompous braggart, and I was a redneck chauvinist in the TV movie 'A Matter of Sex.' But I really prefer sympathetic roles.
Personally, I feel that if you shoot off 200,000 rounds, and your lead character pulls out a pistol and never gets hit, there's a sense of jeopardy that's lost. It becomes a little less exciting when things don't make sense.
I didn't get a lot of industry action after 'Fast Times.'
'Harvey' continues to be both a charming and hilarious play.
My first sex scene - and it was with myself.
I was spoiled and I was arrogant. I was very demanding, had an overblown image of who I was and got a reputation for being difficult. And rightfully so.
I don't know one actor that became an actor for healthy reasons.
I think I started out because I was desperate for approval and acceptance and praise. Some actors never break away from that. They're after that validation their whole life.
The '80s was a great decade for comedy.
I'm proud to have been in some of the films that continue to be a special part of people's lives.
I like to watch and perform the kind of comedy that comes out of the situation - where the character is really serious and in a tough situation and doesn't realize that the situation is comic.
My first time in front of a camera, I said, 'Wonder Woman, I'm so glad you're here.' That's how I made a living.
I walked on eggshells a lot. I have a bad self-esteem problem, and my father probably facilitated it. He once looked at me very seriously when I was about 15 and had whipped cream smeared all over myself. He said, 'You'd do anything for a laugh, wouldn't you?'
I don't think anybody at the major studios is rushing to offer me a romantic lead.
I don't put my nose up at anything if the material is good.
I was pulling in $80 a week after taxes working in a frozen yogurt store.
I remember once they sent me over to read for a show called 'Mork and Mindy.' I heard gales of laughter, then Robin Williams walked out. I had to follow Robin Williams.
I'm not the comic innovator that Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy are. I can't just come out with an incredible line.
I like very straight comedy.
I'm not really crazy about broad comedy. I like very possible, real situations that you might have found yourself in.
You have to tell a good story first. If it's a good story, people will be interested. It doesn't matter about the content.
I frowned just like Winston Churchill on his worst day, and I reminded my father of a judge who had presided over a case... I've been Judge ever since I was two weeks old.
The only people in my whole life that have ever called me Edward are the police because it's on my license.
My father was an attorney.
If I get to tell good stories with good people, that's good enough for me.
I was welcomed into some nightclubs in Chicago that no white man's ever been in.
I still enjoy a lot of support from the black community.
People are flooded with information every day, and normal guys everywhere try valiantly to stay up with all the technology. But they can't quite do it. I know how those guys feel.
I like movies that project a dilemma of modern men and women who are overwhelmed by the system.
When I was a kid growing up, I liked the sympathetic characters played by Alan Arkin, Jack Lemmon, and James Stewart. They were my heroes. No matter what happened to them, they survived with their dignity intact.
The day before 'Beverly Hills Cop' opened, I was at a branch of my bank, and the teller asked me for two pieces of identification. Four days after it opened, I was being waved to on the freeway.
The first show I was in was 'Dracula' in 1975.
I'm really glad I had the chance to live in Jensen Beach and Stuart before everything exploded. I'm always going to be fond of that area. For me, it was a sleepy little fishing town, and it kind of represents what Florida was before the development explosion.
Eddie Murphy is a great entertainer.
When you read a play, the words speak to you. When you read a script, there's no way you can tell if that's the way that movie will turn out.
In my movies, I portray this 'Everyman' persona, someone everybody can empathize with. People can identify with a guy like me.
