Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I'm not secretly on the board of Marvel.
I like anything Jennifer Lawrence is in. She's so beautiful.
I was lucky enough to work a little bit with Steven Spielberg.
Sometimes you can do Shakespeare and you're still not an actor.
I don't think Aaron Sorkin can write a character who isn't really funny.
All the PG-13 superhero movies are depriving me of the gore that I need.
There's very few people, who really thrive creatively under great stress and conflict.
I started out doing theater in New York. I used to go to Shakespeare in the Park a lot.
Because I'm stern and scolding [the characters] sometimes, I'm sure I'll get a ton of grief.
The thing is, I love a great death scene - no good actor doesn't. Sorry, any actor, I should say.
I'm just an actor who happened to love these [Marvel] comics when I was a kid, and got to rediscover them.
'The Avengers' is exciting on the level 'The Matrix' or 'Indiana Jones' was when I was kid. I think it will be timeless.
There's a different set of writers and a different director for the films, but Marvel has turned it into a pretty spectacular job.
New York is the perfect place for a film festival because there's already so much energy and life here, and New Yorkers love movies.
The technology actually seemed to come at just the right time to make the Hulk - Mark Ruffalo was really able to play both characters.
One thing I've learned about the Marvel universe is that it's a little bit like God... if you want to make him laugh, just make a plan.
Apparently, Agent Coulson is a representative or an avatar of all the geeks. And there is so much love for Coulson and fan art of Coulson.
What I think is incredible about what Marvel has done and with Jon Favreau I think really maybe helped come up with, is what the template is.
Sometimes being an actor is being a song in someone else's mixtape, so I really understand why more and more actors are making films of their own.
I think about it, and I realize there's been some version of a Batman or Spiderman or Superman franchise since I was a boy, since before I was a boy.
You can never discount the pleasure of showing up to work with Scarlett Johansson and now Cobie Smulders. That's just a day that's easy on your eyes.
I'd be just another Marvel fan, only with a little bit bigger smile, when I would get the script and be like, "Oh, my gosh, Agent Coulson knows that?
I felt like people really do their best work when they're having a really good time and feel safe to push the envelope and make a jackass out of themselves.
The world of Ultimate Spider-Man is funny. I can't imagine a live-action film where he's Principal Coulson and dealing with some of the pranks from these guys.
I had worked in this New York theatre company for my first eight or nine years out of college, acting and directing there, and I'd begun to write a little bit.
I feel like every time you think you really understand how deep the seductive power of evil is, it always proves to be one step deeper than you thought possible.
I thought there would be more time in my trailer to write during 'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.,' but I seem to be always flying in a harness and conquering supervillains instead.
I guess what we know about the Avengers is there's a reason why all of the heroes that we've been meeting, from Thor to Captain America - everybody - they need to work together.
There was a day on the set of Iron Man where I said, "I remember some of this stuff. I definitely had some Iron Man books. But, S.H.I.E.L.D. is a little bit of a weak spot for me."
I was an 'Ironman' fan. It was in the '70s. I definitely liked comics and drew a lot of panels on my notebook when I should have been studying - probably why I ended up in the arts.
What I love about Coulson is that he manages to do that and he manages to wrangle the diva superheroes, and really keep a sense of humor about it. And, you can tell that he really loves his job.
As a fanboy myself, one of the fun things about the gig has been every time I get a new script, I get to find out more about his day - to-day life and what goes on and what his relationships are.
I'm not in Captain America because it takes place in the '40s. Both he and Bruce Banner are relationships that evolve during this - two more rock stars that I got to get on stage, ready to play ball.
The great thing about Coulson is that he's a little bit like a party game, where the next person who gets ahold of him gets to write another sentence. I'm constantly learning more and more about the guy.
I think most of the actors that I know that I think are good are kind of funny people. There's just something about being alive to the truth of a moment that makes a good joke that also makes a good actor.
I was really sad after 'The Avengers' when I realized I was not going to have a part in 'Thor 2' or 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier.' But I'm not arguing with my fantastic plane and my really cool car.
I've never seen a movie director who was happier to be directing a movie than Dave [Mamet]. His sets, everyone who's ever been involved with one of them will tell you of the funnest, funniest sets you can be on.
The cool thing about directing is, whatever cool thing works in the scene, it's still making the episode be a great story, and everyone's working toward that goal, so it doesn't much matter where it's coming from.
There's nobody who loves being around actors working more than David Mamet, especially actors bringing his tremendous dialogue to life. I've never seen a movie director who was happier to be directing a movie than Dave.
I feel like I've had a number of roles in suits, which is hilarious to the people who know me, because it couldn't be further from who I am and what I wear. I think that Aaron Sorkin is, to a certain extent, responsible.
No matter how tight the shot is, if I'm narrating it too much, there's a barrier between you and the experience, because the process of reading a book, or watching a movie, or watching a play is that you're watching a dream.
Joss Whedon and all the writers of 'Iron Man' and 'Thor' found a way to keep Coulson saying something that keeps you guessing. I'm really lucky because a lot of people play agents and don't get nearly as much fun stuff to do.
It's a little strange, after all these years of working on camera, but once you start to watch the other people who do this a lot and realize how much of what you're doing has to just come through your voice, I found it really interesting.
When there wasn't a lot of work, I wrote a screenplay, 'What Lies Beneath,' which got noticed and got me more acting jobs. As I got more jobs, I was able to make my own films. That ethos of making my own work has provided me with a lot of opportunities.
If the day comes when I'm no longer playing Phil Coulson, I'll very gratefully bid him farewell, because it's been an incredible journey, but I've learned that it's best to just be grateful for where I am and make the most out of that opportunity that day.
To go from Jon Favreau for Iron Man 1 and 2 to Kenneth Branagh for Thor and the very different world of Thor, it's about how to adapt to Coulson in a different setting and a different world while, at the same time, still have him be a part of the same world.
When I moved out to Los Angeles to get some film and television work, and couldn't get any... I became a little isolated, a little terrified, and it's a good place to get writing, because you're so bored. So I wrote a few screenplays, and people notice those.
There's something about the superheroes and the idea behind their relationship with humans, whether it's a metaphor for the better part of ourselves, or the more flawed part of ourselves. So it seems to really be our own pop-culture version of Greek mythology.
Agent Coulson takes the work very seriously. He certainly has some fun with Spider-Man and the others, but he takes each of their tasks, including when they get involved with the drama club, way too seriously. The adventures that they come up with are really exciting.
For me, one of the really cool things about this is that throughout these movies, there have been - and I enjoyed it this way - hints at what S.H.I.E.L.D. is and how they function within this Marvel movie universe which, as you know, is deeply based in the comic books.