Richard Harris Quotes

There are too many prima donnas in this business and not enough action.

I`m not interested in reputation or immortality or things like that...I don`t care what I`m remembered for. I don`t care if I`m remembered. I don`t care if I`m not remembered. I don`t care why I`m remembered. I genuinely don`t care.

No one gave me anything. I fought TB, I fought the devil. But I made people laugh. I don`t want immortality. I`ve lived it all. I`ve done it all.

(His response to hearing he had been Oscar nominated for This Sporting Life (1963)): I`ve struck a blow for the Irish rebellion!

I would give up all the accolades - people have occasionally written and said nice things - of my showbiz career to play just once for the senior Munster team. I will never win an Oscar now, but even if I did I would swap it instantly for one sip of champagne from the Heineken Cup.

What I hate about our business today is the elitism. So-called stars ride in private jets and have bodyguards and dietitians and beauticians. Tom Cruise is a midget and he has eight bodyguards all 6 feet 10, which makes him even more diminutive. It`s an absolute joke.

I can see the difficulties of making a movie. Directors and producers have to put up with a lot of rubbish from temperamental actors.

"Heston`s the only man who could drop out of a cubic moon, he`s so square. The trouble with him is he doesn`t think he`s a hired actor, like the rest of us. He thinks he`s the entire production. He used to sit there in the mornings and clock us with a stopwatch." - After working with Charlton Heston on Major Dundee (1965)

(upon being carried out on a stretcher from the Savoy Hotel, to people entering the hotel) It was the food!

Someone asked me once "What is the difference between Tom Cruise now and you when you were a major star?" I said there is a great difference. Look at a photograph of me from the old days and I`m going to one of my film premieres with a bottle of vodka in my hand. Tom Cruise has a bottle of Evian water. That`s the difference - a bottle of Evian water.

No one trusts me any more. I spent half the movie Maigret (1988) (TV) arguing with people and I was accused of causing big on-set rows. But what they won`t tell you is I fought for Simeneon. I fought for the maintenance of quality. I don`t believe in lying down on the job. I`ve seen these so-called `nice` actors. Very able fellows like Ian McKellen and Kenneth Branagh. But they`re like bank managers. So sweet and careful. Who needs them? We are suffering a plague of good taste. Give me Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke any day. They project danger. That`s what makes acting - and life - interesting.