Quotes

There was a lot of Sack Lodges at my high school. - Sack Lodge is his character from Wedding Crashers (2005).

[on getting the script for Kitchen Confidential (2005)] I was in New York shooting Law & Order (1990) and the script came along, and I completely connected to it. From the first page, when he says, "Ever since I was eight years old, I knew what I wanted to be." When I was eight years old, I wanted to be a chef or an actor. I used to cook all the time. I worked in restaurants the first half of my life. (November 2005)

I had size 12 feet when I was 10, so I thought I was going to be 6' 8". My goal was to be able to dunk a basket. I wound up being 6' 1" with size 14 feet. I got the raw end of the deal.

[2010, on his younger years] I never lived the life of "Oh, you're so good-looking." People thought I was a girl when I was little, because I looked like a girl - maybe because my mother would keep my hair really long in a bowl cut. I was in a coffee shop once and the waitress was like "What do you want, Miss?" I was 10 or 11 - the worst age to have that happen. I had a jean jacket on and a Metallica pin. I thought I was really cool.

[2010, on the incredible shape he got into for The A-Team (2010) ] As the movie progressed, I got in increasingly better shape. There's this one fight scene with Liam Neeson toward the end, where it's, like, the apex of the work. We finished and Joe Carnahan's like "Brother, come here, look at this," and he played it back, and I swear to God, it looked like my head was digitally superimposed onto someone else's body. I was like "This cannot be me - that's the way I look?" It was so fucking surreal, 'cause as a kid I only fantasized about looking that way. Remember Soloflex commercials? That was huge when I was a kid. It was like "I wanna be the Soloflex guy. Mom, can we get the Soloflex?".

[2010, on having to put himself on tape to send to casting directors when auditioning for roles as an aspiring actor] I'd love not to have to do that (anymore). I did it for this movie about UFC fighters a few years ago, and I didn't know anything about UFC fighters. I wore biking shorts. I was outside in my backyard in Venice, and I was, like kicking the trash cans and shit. I didn't know what I was doing. I would love to fucking see that tape.

(2011) Todd Phillips gave Vespas to the cast of The Hangover Part II (2011) when we finished shooting. And I thought, a Vespa? What the heck kind of gift is that? I mean, it's nice, but I'll never drive it. But I tell you, I cannot stop riding that Vespa. I dream about it when I'm away. It's gotten to the point where I think I'm screwed: I'm starting to look at motorcycles.

[2009, on his 'nice guy' role on Alias (2001) and how it nearly typecast him] I remember that after I left Alias, people wouldn't even see me. I'd put myself on tape at home for all these roles because they were like "Oh, no, no. Bradley. He's such a good guy. He can't play that." Then it was David Dobkin, I went in for him on Wedding Crashers (2005) and he had no idea what 'Alias' was or anything. So he hired me right away and that was the major break. Then after that everyone was like "Well, isn't he kind of an asshole? I mean, really. I think he's kind of an asshole." Elia Kazan always said that if you're going to play a cowboy you better show up with a horse because no one sees anything but what you bring. It's funny but sometimes people stop me and they're amazed that I'm not a complete asshole. They expect me to be an asshole right away. I gained a lot of weight to do 'Wedding Crashers' too and they're like "Oh man, I thought you were bigger" because I was 215 lbs for that movie and I'm usually 185 lbs. But to be opposite Vince Vaughn and believe that I could destroy him in a football game...

(2009, on his pets) I have two beautiful dogs that I cherish. Samson is a 14-year-old German short hair pointer and Charlotte is a 6 or 7 year-old Chow Retriever mix. They are both rescue dogs and they are the best ... I'm sort of a hybrid of both my dogs. Samson is stoic and makes me earn it and Charlotte loves me undyingly. They're my kids.

(2009) I seriously love to cook ... My grandmother was an amazing cook. As a kid, I used to help her make handmade pasta, cavatelli and ravioli. It was one of my favorite things to do. I love the idea of making whatever is in the fridge into something.

(2011, on being considered a very successful actor after The Hangover (2009) become a huge hit) It doesn't feel that way. Thank you for saying that. Not the case, I gotta say, but it certainly provided more opportunities. Everybody who was a part of that movie, because it was so financially lucrative, benefited from it but I still put myself on tape for movies and try to get roles. It's the same, you know? It's the same. I mean, look, more doors have been opened for sure but it's not like I sit back with a cigar on Monday morning and go through the scripts that have been offered - no, that's not the case.

(2011, on how he spends his spare time) Eating. I eat a lot of food. I am a big eater.

[on the characters in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)] The fact that these guys are trying to adopt a positive attitude was really important to me. As Jack Nicholson always says, 'Try to incline yourself upwards as much as possible' because it is too easy in this world to incline yourself downwards. These people have every reason to incline themselves downwards, but they're trying to rebuild the economy of their lives. And that's why (they) aren't so fringy to me: they become the most sane people in the room.

Filming a movie with David O. Russell is an athletic endeavor. You are utterly drained at the end of the day because you have to be present at every turn, as if you're on a sports field. That high-octane rhythm demands that you stay in the moment and get out of your head. It's the only way you can be successful as an athlete. That's very scary for an actor.

[2012, on quitting drinking at age 29] I was at a party and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor. Like "Hey, look how tough I am!" I did it again. I spent the night at St. Vincent's Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up... I don't drink or do drugs anymore. Being sober helps a great deal... I remember looking at my life, my apartment, my dogs [when I was still using], and I thought, "What's happening?" I was so concerned what [people] thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day. I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realized I wasn't going to live up to my potential, and that scared the hell out of me. I thought, "Wow, I'm actually gonna ruin my life. I'm really gonna ruin it.".

[on shooting The Hangover (2009) in Las Vegas] People did not react to us. That's the one thing about Vegas: They were completely indifferent. We would go in the elevator at 5 in the morning after shooting, and I had huge scratches on my head, full make-up, and they don't give a fuck. It was unbelievable.

I plead guilty to the accusation of working with people again and again. That's the goal, to create an artistic circle that works. If you look at any period of art that's really exploding, it's people collaborating again and again.

I don't see myself as a ladies' man, but I love women.

[on his approach to acting] I don't see a difference between a dramatic role and a comedic role, because they're all characters I play, and people that are not me.

[To Howard Stern on why he and frequent co-star Jennifer Lawrence never had any romantic relationship]: I said that once on the carpet as a diffuse thing and then it became a big thing because the girl I was seeing was as young as she was. It just didn't happen, it's just not the way we are together. She's absolutely not [too young]. That's insulting, that hurt. (laughs)

I've always known I wanted to direct. Always. So it was about facing the fear of doing it. I said by forty if I hadn't taken a shot, shame on me.

[on Lady Gaga] I love her so deeply. It's because we were at our most vulnerable together.