Generally, I have to be able to get the lines out of my mouth without making a mistake before I go to sleep.
BRENT SPINEREarl Mills is probably the best role I’ve ever been given in a film. And it was a great experience to work with Halle [Berry] and Klaus Maria Brandauer, an Austrian actor who’s a hero of mine.
More Brent Spiner Quotes
-
-
The one on Fresh Hell is a little easier, because we make it up. It’s a strange kind of hybrid of the real me and… Well, obviously it’s me standing there, and it’s my voice and my face, but it’s also kind of filtered through Harry Hannigan’s take on the character, the one he’s writing.
BRENT SPINER -
I did a great show Off-Broadway called Leave It To Beaver Is Dead that was at the Public Theater in New York. It was written by Des McAnuff, who’s an illustrious director now, and it starred…
BRENT SPINER -
[The Aviator] came about through John Logan, who I’ve been friends with for many years.
BRENT SPINER -
Timing is everything, as you know.
BRENT SPINER -
The only problem with that – and she was lovely – was that she was basically hired because [Gian Luigi Polidoro] thought she was [film producer] Ray Stark’s daughter. And he figured that if he ran out of money, her father would kick in some more.
BRENT SPINER -
I think I worked an average of about 10 minutes a day [in Big Bang Theory series]. It took longer to get to the studio than I actually worked. So I regard the driving there as the actual job. The work itself was just fun.
BRENT SPINER -
I know a guy who writes on the show, it was his episode, and he called and said, “Would you do it?” And I said, “Yeah.” There’s not really much else to tell, except that I was thrilled to be on The Simpsons, because it’s one of the greatest series in the history of television.
BRENT SPINER -
And I was, like, “Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’m performing a musical number in front of Donald O’Connor,” who’s one of the greats of the silver screen. But it was a thrilling experience, it really was.
BRENT SPINER -
I went to New York out of college, and in my day, we were told that was the way you became a good actor. You don’t go to Hollywood, you go straight to New York and work in the theater. So that’s what most of the people I knew did.
BRENT SPINER -
Voice acting is about the easiest thing to do. You roll out of bed, throw your clothes on that you had on the night before, you go into the studio, and nobody cares, just as long as you can speak.
BRENT SPINER -
I don’t know you could do a whole film about Dr. Okun from Independence Day.
BRENT SPINER -
That was a really interesting series [Threshold ] that I think would’ve been really great had it continued.
BRENT SPINER -
Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, the guys who run that show [Big Bang Theory], are really funny and really smart, and the cast is fantastic to work with.
BRENT SPINER -
The Dain Curse [Tom Fink] was a great job. I was in New York, and I was young – I think I’m 28 years old in that – and I got to work with James Coburn and Jean Simmons and Jason Miller. Plus, it was a Dashiell Hammett story, and I had a great character. It was fantastic to shoot.
BRENT SPINER -
It was a fabulous experience shooting [in the Aviator], working with Leo [DiCaprio] and Danny Huston in the scene. It was great. I think what was most eye-opening about it was that [Martin] Scorsese was just like any good director you work with.
BRENT SPINER -
I don’t think everybody wanted to be on [new Star Trek series] . I certainly didn’t.
BRENT SPINER -
They were nicely written and nicely directed episodes [Star Trek: Enterprise]. I enjoyed working with Scott [Bakula]. So it was good to do, and, as you said, it did serve to enhance the Soong legacy.
BRENT SPINER -
[Independence Day] was a sweet, sweet job, because it was one of those big surprises.
BRENT SPINER -
Actually, I had a really nice part in that movie [Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains]. I mean, I have, like, one second in the final-cut version, where I say “You’re fired” to Diane Lane. That’s about all you see of me.
BRENT SPINER -
As it turns out, sometimes that bites you. In this case, I saw pictures of Earl [Mills], and…I actually met him. He was quite old at the time, but he had this sort of curly red hair, so we did that in the film. I got a perm and had red hair, and… It was a mess.
BRENT SPINER -
We got to be really good friends [Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau]. It was just thrilling, every day. Every single day. I had a big couple of musical numbers in [Out to Sea], and I remember doing one of them and shooting it from beginning to end.
BRENT SPINER -
Needless to say, I was impressed by Felicia [Day] and her moxie with how to do a web series. I mean, she’s the queen of the web.
BRENT SPINER -
That’s what kids were like then. So I really like the movie [Dude, Where’s My Car? ], I think it’s genuinely funny, and I wish I hadn’t been so arrogant about it. And, of course, I didn’t know it was going to be my best work, either.
BRENT SPINER -
[ Felicia Day] is really figured it all out, and it was impressive. It was nothing like our set, because her set was like working on a real film.
BRENT SPINER -
I mean, what a man. Someone who’s done Preston Sturges movies, and I actually got to work with him? And he was great.
BRENT SPINER -
So it was a really pleasant surprise when [Independence Day] turned out to be a successful film. I don’t know if you’ve heard that they’re going to be re-releasing it next Fourth of July in 3-D.
BRENT SPINER