Chris Cooper

I like a very dry wit, not the big kind of humor like Robin Williams. I don’t think I’m capable of that.

You jot down ideas, memories, whatever, concerning your real life that somehow parallels the character you’re playing, and you incorporate that in your scene work.

Well, all I can say is thank goodness I had 15 years of theater before ever I did film roles. You build technique that you can rely on.

I’m thrilled with my body of work.

I had a couple come in with a negative amortization mortgage on a house that costs way too much relative to their income. They’re consuming real estate, not investing in it.

You look at a herd of cattle and well, they all look the same… but they know. They all have an individual personality, and those personalities change from day to day. They can have their grumpy days and their happy days and their serene days. But it’s unpredictable. You can’t be off in outer space when you’re dealing with animals.

Frankly, my politics are pretty left of left.

As a rule it usually takes three or four readings for me to be interested in a script, and if I’m interested I’ll read it three or four times before I make a strong decision.

I don’t want to go bald, I don’t know what’s coming up next.

I’ve got research, I have my own life experience I can apply, and I have my imagination.

I’ve been around horses, but I certainly wouldn’t call myself a horseman by any means. It’s a combination of being very aware of them, and not trusting them.

When I feel like I’m doing my best work, there is a bit of a freedom, a bit of flight that you’re not so much losing yourself but you’re sort of in the zone.

I suspect that a lot of studio executives still think of me as ‘what’s-his-name’.