"The mug is a tool. My ace in the hole. To have looks is the bonus on top of what motivates me to be an actor. Not to realize they're an asset would be counterproductive to the cause; they serve the common good."
"Every decision Cal makes is with the intent to mine the approval of his social set. He could benefit from a loving relationship based on communication and respect but he's been brought up his whole life to believe such things are not important. He's the product of bad programming and we witness it short-circuiting pretty violently. His heart is breaking just as he's realizing he has one." (Explaining Cal Hockley's character in Titanic)
"I love this period (1912-Titanic) in history. If I'd lived then I would have tried to make it as a silent film actor."
"I think the Titanic disaster has parallels today. The closest thing I can think of is the silicon chip...We're all kind of bowing to this computer god, thinking it's going to fix everything and we're geniuses for inventing this. And, you know, I just think we should pay attention to disasters of the past."
"All the characters were kind of intrinsic. We're also carrying on the metaphor of the tragedy." (Talking about the TITANIC characters)
"I would love to do a comedy. The primary thing is complexity. The reason I play so many dark characters is because there is room for the unexpected. Hollywood tends to have a lot of cookie-cutter villains so I like to find the angle of the bad guy and what angle the director is coming from you. In Titanic I am a first-class passenger, a millionaire robber baron. All the new socialization of 1912 is frightening to him."
"I attribute my first gig to an old-fashioned traditional audition. The first break I got was "Back to the Future," but I think it was attributed to the tee shirt I was wearing - a George Jetson tee shirt. My life direction was attributed to a kitsch souvenir off Melrose. You are what you wear!"
"A certain strength that comes with ease. A woman who is not afraid of the word feminist." (What he looks for in a woman)
"It tends to irk people, but I like it. I kind of feel like Mr. Potato Head, a neutral face which you can build from." (What he says of his shaved head)
"I'm a card-carrying member of Toys-R-Us. I'm a big advocate of the Whoosh products - they're like a Frisbee, but with a plastic rim and stretched-lycra center - that way you can't really hurt anyone with it. You can bounce it off your friend's head without them getting too pissed off. It's great on the set to break the tension."
"I don't want to lose the core audience that expects weird choices from me," he says, "but I definitely want to keep expanding the sphere of the mainstream. That's a tough nut to crack - a very exclusive club." "I still don't know if I'm a member - but I'm often a guest." (The Toronto Sun January 1, 1998)
"I'm the Brando from Hell, the psycho next door, the Bellevue outpatient." (What he has been branded as in Hollywood. From Details magazine by Ann Magnuson)
"1. Behave as though you've already arrived.
2. You are what you wear.
3. Don't drink the water." (Billy's rules to follow for survival in Hollywood. Details Magazine)
"Act like Sean Connery. Dance like Gene Kelly. Drive like Steve McQueen. Kiss like Clark Gable and dress like Cary Grant." (Billy's teenage mission statement Cleo Magazine 12/98)
"I won't take roles that I think are insulting or detrimental. If something isn't life affirming...I avoid it." (Billy in Genre Magazine June 1996)
"My sister...and my compassion. I like what it inspires and what it can do; how a little gesture can go a long way. That turns me on." (Talking about what he is proud of in Genre Magazine June 1996)
"We knew we were making a good film - we had no idea we were party to a phenomenon in the making. It was pretty trippy." (Talking about Titanic on May 25; taken from SW News, a radio show-prep service.)
"It's huge, apparently...um...I guess they've raised the bar with this one - whether it's budget or the cast of thousands, and certainly the content. If you're going to make a Cleopatra movie you've got to step out, and that they did at Hallmark and ABC, I'll tell ya." (Talking about Cleopatra on May 21; taken from SW News, a radio show-prep service.)
Other Quotes
"Billy's a complex guy. And I felt that right away, you know. He's brilliant. And in ways that have nothing to do with acting, also. I mean writing, directing, all that other stuff. And there was just something about him that I knew would bring a lot of complexity to a character that could be very simple. And he fought for a vulnerability in the character that I think makes it more than just kind of a cardboard villain. Yeah, he grabs the kid and jumps on the life boat, but he also loves her." (Titanic director James Cameron on Billy's acting skills)
"Part of his attraction is that he comes off so ambiguously, a la Montgomery Clift or James Dean. He truly smolders onscreen." (Premiere magazine editor-at-large Bruce Bibby on Billy's appeal)
"I don't know where to start - handsome, beautiful, great-hearted, life-spirited, deep eyes, great partner, good friend, great actor, multitalented in many fields. We became very good friends on the set." (Leonor Varela on what Billy is really like)