Dean Norris Quotes

For an actor, playing one character and transitioning to a completely different one is a dream come true.

Investment banks started recruiting at Harvard back in the day, and they’d fly me down to New York City and I was so poor so I would take advantage of the free flight, the per diem, the hotel. And then I would go audition for stuff.

You know, I’m from the Midwest, man – that shapes my personality much more than having gone to Harvard.

As a matter of fact, I am an uncle. I have nine nephews and nieces. I’m not sure if they think I’m all that quick with a quip. But I’m quick with a spank.

Well, I was a drama kid.

I don’t have a lot of downtime.

My dad’s era believed that there was something noble in being a good guy – the kind of guy that lived straight and narrow, told the truth, and stood up for what he believed was right.

I don’t get a lot of “Hey, Harvard!” stuff. I think a lot of people who don’t know me would be surprised to think that I went there. But no, I don’t. You know, I’m from the Midwest, man – that shapes my personality much more than having gone to Harvard.

Look, we’re in the time of the anti-hero.

I earned a black belt when I was in high school. And I did a lot of boxing and full contact karate in college.

My dad was a singer in a band and neither of my parents went to college, and I ended up getting into Harvard and was the first person in my family that went to college and it happened to be Harvard.

When you’re a stand-up, you play in front of 600 people, and it’s all about timing. I could never do stand-up comedy; it would be way too hard for me.

I never had a month or so go by where I haven’t had a job, but you always worry that someone will turn off the tap.

I think actors who take things too far are funny.

Actually, I went from doing a lot of movies early on in my career, then to doing TV, and I don’t know whether we’ll get back to some movies or not.

When my kids started preschool, the teachers had to take away all the fake bananas because all the boys would pick them up and pretend that they were guns. Boys find sticks to play swords and anything that looks like a gun to shoot. It’s just inside of them. It’s who they are.

You go into any doughnut shop and look at three cops having coffee, I guarantee I look like one of them.