An Actor's Tools

"Being an actor's no different than being a rugby player or a construction worker, save for the fact that my tools are the mechanisms that trigger human emotion."
Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), Tropic Thunder

Show Business is Rough Business

"Rough business, this movie business. I'm gonna have to go back to loan-sharking just to take a rest."
Chili Palmer (John Travolta), Get Shorty

How to Get an Oscar Nomination

"White boys always get the Oscar. It's a known fact. Did I ever get a nomination? No! You know why? Cause I hadn't played any of them slave roles, and get my ass whipped. That's how you get the nomination. A black dude who plays a slave that gets his ass whipped gets the nomination, a white guy who plays an idiot gets the Oscar. That's what I need, I need to play a retarded slave, then I'll get the Oscar."
Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy), Bowfinger

A Harsh Business

"This business, this town, it chews you up, then spits you out."
Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau), Ed Wood (Special Edition)

The Answers to All Life's Riddles

"All of life's riddles are answered in the movies."
Davis (Steve Martin), Grand Canyon

Worse than Dog-Eat-Dog

"Show business is dog-eat-dog. It's worse than dog-eat-dog. It's dog-doesn't-return-other-dog's-phone-calls. Which reminds me, I should check my answering service."
Clifford Stern (Woody Allen), Crimes and Misdemeanors

Punching Below the Belt

"This is not a business, this is show business. Punching below the belt is not only all right, it's rewarded."
Rex (Benicio Del Toro), Swimming with Sharks

Power in Hollywood

"Power is an elusive term, but in Hollywood it's everything, I don't care what they say, you either have it, want it, or you're afraid of losing it."
Ben (Robert De Niro), What Just Happened?

Method Acting

"Man, I don't drop character 'till I done the DVD commentary."
Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr), Tropic Thunder

Shallow Money Trench

“The movie business is a cruel and shallow money trench where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs.  There’s also a negative side.”
Bruce Willis (Bruce Willlis), What Just Happened?

Lights, Camera and...

"Lights, camera, and anguish."
Steve Shostakovich (John Massari), The Wizard of Speed and Time [VHS]

Relative Size

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson),  Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)