Seymour Cassel Quotations

I was born in Detroit, then shortly after I was born, I went on the road with my mother, who performed with Minsky's, a variety show that toured around the U.S. doing five shows a day.

Many people came out and said, 'Boy I'd love to make a film that way.' Well, borrow some money, get some people together - you can get people to work for nothing, just treat them right, treat them as human beings, not stars, give them all an equal share, make them feel a part of what they're doing. There's no big secret to it.

It's all performing; that's what we do in life. We talk, we look, and we hear, and we listen. Your life is a performance.

I wait for something good or something that will be fun. But they've got to pay me if they want me to work.

My mother worked in the old Minsky's troupe, which toured the country in the golden age of burlesque theatre.

If you're an actor, and you're selfish and not strong, it's difficult to maintain a good personal life or a solid career, and I was selfish and had a lot of anger that went way back.

When I was 17, I was told I had the choice of enlisting in the Navy or going to jail, so I spent the next three years in the Navy.

It doesn't matter how beautifully a film is photographed. The acting tells your story. It's what people relate to. If you don't believe the characters, it doesn't work.

As a kid, I remember wearing a checkered suit and appearing on-stage in the routines worked out by the 'baggy pants' comedians.

With independent film, simply because they don't have the money to make a big-budget film, they're forced to make a story that's important to them, that they would like to see on film, a personal story that people can relate to, about people, where you can see the love of the characters.