James Caan
James Caan
James Edmund Caanis an American actor. After early roles in The Glory Guysand El Dorado, he came to prominence in the 1970s with significant roles in films such as Brian's Song, The Gambler, Funny Ladyand A Bridge Too Far. For his signature role in The Godfather, that of hot-tempered Sonny Corleone, Caan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth26 March 1940
CityBronx, NY
CountryUnited States of America
The heroism of the role, ... was playing up the vulnerability of the role, and that was all Jimmy.
I didn't turn the script down. It was the title. It didn't sound... right. From The Godfather to Elf? My agents told me: "We're sending you a script called Elf", and I said: "No you're not!
How good a Little League coach was I? I was a little hyper. One thing I learned was that talent comes from everywhere; it doesn't have to come just from the ghetto. But in Beverly Hills, because Daddy has a grocery store, the kids lack a lot of try.
I'll bump into a guy in a bar, and he'll say, "I'm sorry, Sonny!" It's surreal.
I always thought of myself as some sort of athlete until I started playing golf a couple years ago.
I went to a shrink once, but I caught him going to a fortune-teller so I quit.
I'm sort of a Walter Mitty. I got fewer brain cells than most people, so when I got friendly with cowboys, I started rodeoing. When I was calf-roping, there was something about the dirt that made me feel clean.
What I do quite honestly and seriously and not in any way being humble is not as important as what the garbage collector does. People make actors important.
Sometimes it seems like this is the choice - either kick ass or kiss ass.
There's a big difference between wanting to work and having to work. And I had to learn that the hard way. Now money is very important to me, because I ain't got it.
Saving a letter from an old friend doesn't exist anymore. Everything is texted or emailed.
I'll see a beautiful girl walking up to me and I'll think, Oh, my God, I can't believe my good luck. But then she'll say, 'Where's your son?' or 'My mother loves you'.
Some guys say beauty is only skin deep. But when you walk into a party, you don't see somebody's brain. The initial contact has to be the sniffing.
I've never been difficult to anybody or with anybody on a picture. Especially when you're in that nice status of hierarchy of actors and actresses who get to approve directors. Because once you make that choice, it's my belief that the director's boss.