| River
Phoenix |
| "I'm
just a normal guy doing a job!" |
| "After
Stand
By Me came out people were telling me, 'You're so good,' 'You're going
to be a star,' and things like that. You can't think about it. If you take
it the wrong way, you can really get high on yourself. People get so lost
when that happens to them. They may think they have everything under control,
but everything is really out of control. Their lives are totally in pieces." |
| "We
were constantly moving to different countries and adjusting to new things.
It was such a free feeling. I'm glad I didn't have a traditional upbringing." |
| "I'm
really normal. I play football, go to the beach, drive. We have dogs. I
can imagine people calling me a character, but I'm Joe Straight." |
| "Commercials
were too phony for me. I just didn't like selling a product I didn't
believe in." |
| "I've
been wanting to go into music ever since I can remember. I mean even before
I became an actor. I just thought it would be a tough feild to break into,
so I became an actor instead." |
| "Music
is my main goal, but I'm not going to rush a record out. There are so many
actors who have come out with albums these days. I don't want to do it
because it's the thing to do. I want to wait until the time is right." |
| "Acting
is like a Halloween mask that you put on." |
| "I
did my best work in The Mosquito Coast. I know it wasn't such a
big hit, but for me it was more meaningful than anything else I'd ever
done." |
| "I
like girls who are natural because I am natural in everything I do. If
I meet a girl who is snobby and wants special treatment, she's not going
to get it from me because she hasn't earned it. But I've been basically
lucky because I've met mostly nice girls--and that's what attracts me." |
| "People
wonder if I'll always be a part of this family and the answer is yes. My
family has a lot of good energy going in one direction and because of it,
we get a lot of things done. That's why I'll always spend a lot of time
at Camp Phoenix." |
| "I'd
like to play every type of character, but only once. I like to expierence
things." |
| "I
would never, never do anything unless I believed in it." |
| "Vegitarianism
is a link to perfection and peace" |
| "I can't on my own change
the regime in South Africa or teach the Palestinians to learn to live with
the Israelies, but I can start with me." |
| "We
all have our distinct things. Leaf was the family clown - very witty, very
smart. Mom had to work a lot, so Rainbow was the mother and the older sister
and trendsetter. Liberty was always the most physical, like an acrobat,
very nimble and strong, a really beautiful girl. And Summer was the youngest,
the baby of the family with big brown eyes and blond hair, more American-looking." |
| "Biggest problem was I was
terrible for commercials - I couldn't smile on cue." |
| "I
remember we'd roll into gas stations in our beat-up van and I'd tell the
attendant, 'I'm going to be an actor!'." |
| "I told them I was tired
of being in the magazines, and how they made it sound like I love them
and want girls so badly to buy them. I'm also doing a photo shoot in a
couple of weeks - good honest pictures. They're going to print these pictures
anyway, so they might as well be pictures of what I'm really like." |
| "When
I was old enough to realize all meat was killed, I saw it as an irrational
way of using our power, to take a weaker thing and mutilate it. It was
like the way bullies would take control of younger kids in the schoolyard." |
| "When I was in first grade,
everyone made fun of my name, of course. I think it's kind of a big name
to hold up when you're nine years old. It seemed goofy. I used to tell
people I wanted to change the world and they used to think, 'This kid's
really weird'." |
| "Rich
kids gave us their old clothes. They were the best clothes we ever had.
We were these very pure, naïve, poor children. The rich kids called
us a lot of names but it never bothered us because we didn't know what
the words meant." |
| "I have twenty personalities
on top of the ten I already have. So now I have thirty people in my head!" |
| "Music
is a hobby, because I'm not making any money out of it, but I put just
as much conviction into that as I do into my acting." |
| "Music
is a whole oasis in my head. The creation process is so personal and fulfilling." |
| "It's
a great feeling to think that I can be a friend to so many people through
my movies." |
| "I don't want to die in
a car accident. When I die it'll be a glorious day. It'll probably be a
waterfall." |
| "Once
you get into that street groove, the other side-the straight side-looks
really scary." |
| "I have a lot of chameleon
qualities, I get very absorbed in my surroundings." |
| "Achieving
success gets complicated. You find yourself hanging around with a different
crowd. I probably would have shied away from it, but after a while you
can't help but get sucked in ... all those parties and premieres and limos
picking you up. And after a while, if you hang in with this little group,
you lose your sense of reality completely." |
| "I
sometimes lie, especially about personal things, because what does it matter?
I am a kind of minute commodity, my name is no longer my own." |
| "I
try to lie as much as I can when I'm interviewed. It's reverse psychology.
I figure if you lie, they'll print the truth." |
| "I
don't want to get into the habit of thinking about my career because when
it comes down to it, it's not that important. I could die tomorrow and
the world would go on. I don't want to separate myself from the rest of
the world. If the world is not going too good, I'm part of that. I'll be
happy to take the blame. I'm along for the ride." |
| "It
still strikes me as strange that anyone can have any moral objection to
someone else's sexuality. It's like telling someone else how to clean their
house." |
| "People
are constantly trying to make an image for you. They'll dress you up and
tell you to pose a certain way and take all these pictures...they want
a certain image, so they create that. And unless you're spending a lot
of time to create another image to counteract that image, their's will
win. So right now, I'm kind of dealing with a lot of false ideas of what
I'm about." |
