When you have a good script you’re almost in more trouble than when you have a terrible script.
Meaning of the quote
This quote means that having a good script can actually be more challenging for an actor than having a bad one. A good script sets high expectations, so the actor has to work harder to bring the story and characters to life in a way that meets those expectations. With a bad script, the actor has more flexibility to make the best of it. But with a great script, the pressure is on to deliver an outstanding performance.
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More quotes from Robert Downey, Jr.
I know very little about acting. I’m just an incredibly gifted faker.
When you have a good script you’re almost in more trouble than when you have a terrible script.
I was kind of like chasing my tail and trying to do the right thing, and was a little bit stupid. Or irresponsible, which is the same thing I guess. It’s just been really busy and I had a lot of great opportunities.
I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it.
If you’re doing a drama that has some comedic elements you can’t forget that it’s primarily a very serious film that has some light relief.
With a terrible script you hustle and try to make it better. But with a good script it can be trouble because you rest on your laurels, so to speak, you think it’s going to translate easily.
Look, even bad years are pretty good years I think.
Nothing’s a break for me. Not even the breaks are breaks.
I think I’ve been lucky, being my frequent appearances on Court TV have brought to me another level than just the actor guy.
It’s a very smart and heartfelt movie and that’s why, I think, we’re all drawn to it. We really showed up for this with this collective idea that it was really ambitious, but we felt we all really had something to gain from it.
But I will agree that I think that things happen with people in relationships, that you might have been able to enjoy Morocco, say, if you weren’t getting out of a bad marriage. You know what I mean?
I read the script for Wonder Boys, and I said that was almost perfect, it was so classy, cool and funny. It’s a really specific thing. We stuck to it, it turned out good and a lot of people liked it.
I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.
The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.
But I think Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang really got that thing where, if a movie reads really funny and then has some dramatic or violent or sinister stuff in it, you can’t forget that primarily it has to be even funnier than you read it or that other stuff doesn’t work.
I think life changes every year. This is just a little more comfortable.
Acting is always a challenge.
I’ve always been a fella who put most of my eggs in one basket and then take a dump in the basket but I really don’t know.
I’m not 40 yet. I wouldn’t even bother comparing myself to Chaplin.
I’ve always just shown up and tried to figure out what’s for lunch and am I going to get to play some racquetball that night.
I loved it, it’s such fun. I like that people are seeing it and then talking about it. Like when I took my son and his friends to see Napoleon Dynamite last year, we spent the next six weeks trying to explain it.