Art is a bad word in Hollywood. You use art too many times and they show you the elevator and then your name is taken off the parking lot. Dennis Hopper More Quotes by Dennis Hopper More Quotes From Dennis Hopper I couldn't get a job acting all the time and there were down periods where I could take photographs or paint. I got into a lot of trouble when I was young, from making two films with James Dean, watching him work and then him dying and thinking I could turn down work. There was a big difference, he was a star and I wasn't. So I got in a lot of trouble and was essentially banned from Hollywood. Dennis Hopper stars jobs thinking Jimmy [Dean] was the most talented and original actor I ever saw work. He was also a guerrilla artist who attacked all restrictions on his sensibility. Once he pulled a switchblade and threatened to murder his director. I imitated his style in art and in life. It got me in a lot of trouble. Dennis Hopper style actors art I should have been dead ten times over. I've thought about that a lot. I believe in miracles. It's an absolute miracle that I'm still around. Dennis Hopper miracle should-have believe I've been a Republican since Reagan. I voted for Bush and his father. I don't tell a lot of people, because I live in a city where somebody who voted for Bush is really an outcast. Dennis Hopper cities father people You know, the history of California art doesn't start until about 1961, and that's when these photographs start. I mean, we have no history out here. Dennis Hopper california mean art I made a picture called Super Mario Bros., and my six-year-old son at the time - he's now 18 - he said, 'Dad I think you're probably a pretty good actor, but why did you play that terrible guy King Koopa in Super Mario Bros?' And I said, 'Well Henry, I did that so you could have shoes,' and he said, 'Dad, I don't need shoes that badly.' Dennis Hopper dad kings son Independent films in this country are in the same position. Miramax and Fine Line are not independent - they're with Disney! Come on. Or they're with Warner Brothers. They're all with somebody. Dennis Hopper independent brother country Work is fun to me. All those years of being an actor and a director and not being able to get a job - two weeks is too long to not know what my next job will be. Dennis Hopper fun jobs years As an actor, you have no control really. Dennis Hopper actors You're like a turd that won't flush. Dennis Hopper turds Photography and painting, all of that fed into my directing eventually. Dennis Hopper feds painting photography The alcohol was awful. I was a terrible alcoholic. I mean, people used to ask how much drugs I did. I said, 'I only do drugs so I can drink more'. I was doing the coke so I could drink more. I mean, I don't know any other reason. I'd start drinking in the morning. I'd drink all day long. Dennis Hopper drinking morning mean I used to have to wear a gas mask to school when I was a kid because of the dust. I would tell people that the first light I saw was in a movie theater, because the sun was just a little glow. Dennis Hopper light kids school When I was about 14. I saw my first mountain. I saw the ocean for the first time. I remember thinking that that ocean looked very similar to our wheat fields. I didn't know what I thought I would see when I looked out at the ocean, but I thought I'd see something different. Dennis Hopper wheat-fields ocean thinking Well, it's not just money. I consider myself establishment right now. I'm borderline establishment, I'm hanging on by my toenails - but I'm establishment. Dennis Hopper toenails hanging-on establishment [After Easy Rider] I couldn't get another movie, so I lived in Mexico City for a couple of years. I lived in Paris for a couple of years. I didn't take any photographs, and then I went to Japan and saw a Nikon used. I bought it, and I just started, like an alcoholic. I shot 300 rolls of film. That was the beginning of me starting again. Dennis Hopper japan couple years The inside of the Pentagon is an incredible place and a dramatic set. We do [travel] outside, but the inside workings of the civilian oversight of the military inside the Pentagon is really about as exciting as anything you ever want to deal with. It is really amazing. Dennis Hopper incredibles military want In Method acting, you can't have preconceived ideas. You have to live in the moment. You have to keep yourself open. Dennis Hopper acting live-in-the-moment ideas I've always been doing some sort of art. I started off, when I was very young, painting. Dennis Hopper painting young art I was reading a lot of Thomas Jefferson at the time, and Jefferson said that every 20 years, if one party has stayed in power, it's your obligation as an American to vote the other party in. Dennis Hopper party reading years
