Top 40 William H. Macy Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I was a dog in a past life. Really. I’ll be walking down the street and dogs will do a sort of double take. Like, Hey, I know him.”

— William H. Macy

2. “Oh yeah, that’s the Holy Grail, Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp, he’s the real deal, isn’t he? He doesn’t get the girl, and he doesn’t care.”

— William H. Macy

3. “It’s hard to be depressed around a ukulele. You just pick it up and you’re halfway home.”

— William H. Macy

4. “That red carpet has to be felt to be believed.”

— William H. Macy

5. “Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. It’s not right. Someone’s gotta say it. They said it. I applaud them.”

— William H. Macy

6. “Yeah, I made it. It sneaks up on you. You’re some schmuck and you wake up one day and you go, Good God, I’m the cheese.”

— William H. Macy

7. “Shameless is a rough show, and it’s not for everyone, but it’s also beautiful.”

— William H. Macy

8. “I’m not religious. It’s an issue, ’cause I’ve got two little kids, and I feel you can’t grow up without knowledge of religion.”

— William H. Macy

9. “I love metaphor the way some people love junk food.”

— William H. Macy

10. “It started with the Godfather, this operatic violence. I don’t know.”

— William H. Macy

11. “A favorite cast? Lisa Kudrow, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and my wife.”

— William H. Macy

12. “I do love comedy, but I’m not brave enough to tackle a script whose goal is to make you laugh. That’s tough. The ones that can do it, I tip my hat off to them, but I don’t have that kind of humor or mind.”

— William H. Macy

13. “It sure is boring to be around people who are in character all the time. I always find it’s closer to mental illness than acting excellence.”

— William H. Macy

14. “I’m not much of a preparer. I think sometimes as an actor you need to go out and learn some skills, but in terms of preparation for understanding the character, it’s all on the page, and if it’s not on the page, you’re in trouble.”

— William H. Macy

15. “You can skim those stage directions and go right to the dialogue. You can almost read the movie in the same amount of time it will take you to see the movie.”

— William H. Macy

16. “When I was in New York, I was making a living. We had a summer house and a car that I could put in a garage. That’s something for a stage actor.”

— William H. Macy

17. “We always want to see people strive and see the human spirit triumph against adversity. That’s what it’s all about because that’s what we’re doing. We’re trying to triumph in our lives.”

— William H. Macy

18. “Stephen King writes a lot of things that are really charming and quirky, and that are more ironic than horror.”

— William H. Macy

19. “I don’t watch rushes. My whole thing is to try to stay in the moment with the other actor, and to let it all hang. I’m not sure I’m right on that, though.”

— William H. Macy

20. “I’m really proud of the writing on Door to Door, and I think that’s the Emmy that meant the most – the writing.”

— William H. Macy

21. “Anyway, I try to be a good guy. I try to tell the truth, but I’m not religious.”

— William H. Macy

22. “So many actors spend so much energy trying to remember the lines. It’s so foolish. Guys are the worst.”

— William H. Macy

23. “I introduced myself to Scorsese and I said, “If you need someone to do craft services, I’m there.””

— William H. Macy

24. “Directors work 10 times harder than anyone else. Get paid a quarter.”

— William H. Macy

25. “When I watch a film I get swept away. I don’t really watch the camera.”

— William H. Macy

26. “The Spirit Awards are great too, they’ll say anything because they’re not televised. Another great drinking night.”

— William H. Macy

27. “Nobody became an actor because he had a good childhood.”

— William H. Macy

28. “I’m a firm believer that character is highly overrated. Character is a trick that we do with the audience’s collusion.”

— William H. Macy

29. “I think theater is powerful. The best experiences I had in the theater are more powerful than the best experiences I had in movies.”

— William H. Macy

30. “There are some older women out there who are just knockouts, real beauties, and they’re not getting the roles they should.”

— William H. Macy

31. “Writers love to write those idiotic, long stage directions, and some of them worse than others. They have nothing to do with the movie. They’re just jerking around.”

— William H. Macy

32. “I have a tendency to say yes to a script or no to a script. Not yes based on a rewrite.”

— William H. Macy

33. “I’ve written a lot of scripts that someone else directed, and it’s absolutely vital that, if I’m gonna act in it, then I have to take off the writer hat and let the director direct.”

— William H. Macy

34. “The only people who do plays in LA are people who can’t get jobs in TV shows.”

— William H. Macy

35. “I think I’ve been in situations where they looked at me and just see some rich white guy – they don’t see me at all.”

— William H. Macy

36. “It was my first impulse, but I chose to play the priest as a true believer who was an absolute man of faith that absolutely supports the church.”

— William H. Macy

37. “We must admit that it is quite common that people do have affairs with their leading ladies and men.”

— William H. Macy

38. “What actors are good at doing is walking into a situation that should make you incredibly self-conscious and frightened and doing it anyway. That’s the gig, pretending that you are comfortable.”

— William H. Macy

39. “One’s complete sentences are attempts, as often as not, to complete an incomplete self with words.”

— William H. Macy

40. “I’ll tell you this about the Oscars – they’re real.”

— William H. Macy

41. “Just learn the whole script before you start shooting. That makes shooting a joy. Even if they rewrite, it’s easy.”

— William H. Macy

42. “If I like the story and it’s well written, and it’s a character I want to play and they’ll pay me, then I decide to do it.”

— William H. Macy

43. “Everyone hooks up with George Clooney. He’s a genuinely cool guy. He’s using his powers for good.”

— William H. Macy

44. “I’m sure I have a process, but it mostly takes place in my dreams.”

— William H. Macy

45. “Ninety percent of the preparation we do as actors is just jive. It doesn’t do anything.”

— William H. Macy

46. “I got an agent. He said, what do you wanna do, and I said, I want an Oscar nomination. That’s your job, that’s what I’m paying you for. And I got it.”

— William H. Macy

47. “We all want to be 20 again and have that first sense of love.”

— William H. Macy