''Film is the greatest tranquilizer in the world for me. I fall asleep during opening credits. I go right out. Any film. Cartoons, I'm up for days. Movies, it's over within seconds.'' (2005)
...becoming part of Disney's marketing machine
''It's fascinating to witness the machine at work, watch it hum and scream and howl. To see these products, like cereal boxes and fruit chews and action figures and sheets and towels and pillows...I mean, we've entered the arena where Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol are Snoopy-dancing in the nude. It's so absurd and so surreal and so irreverent that I love it.'' (2006)
...his inspiration for Edward Scissorhands
''I watched a lot of Chaplin stuff, because he was a genius at expressing himself without words. The one thing [director Tim Burton] stressed was keeping the character of Edward pure without begging people to feel sorry for him. To me, Edward is that feeling of insecurity — the feeling you get when you're growing up and nothing you do is right, everything you touch breaks.'' (1990)
...his character in Benny & Joon
''Somebody who is different, who is judged on appearance instead of heart, who is looked upon as a freak — well, all I can say is, freaks are my heroes.'' (1993)
...dressing in drag for Ed Wood
''I'd get home, put a slip on, some high heels, hang out. Wearing bullet bras, garters, the whole shebang has given me newfound respect for women and profound respect for transvestites. It takes serious commitment for a man to really want to dress as a woman.''
...and for 21 Jump Street
''I looked like my mom.'' (1994)
...playing Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow
''I always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile person who was maybe a little too in touch with his feminine side, like a frightened little girl.'' (1999)
...choosing offbeat projects (like 1999's commercially disappointing The Astronaut's Wife)
''Maybe I'm a dummy. But I don't worry that a lot of my films haven't had big results at the box office, because I'm not a businessman. Believe me, I would love for one of my movies to be accepted by a wide audience, but I'm not going to do a film just because it's going to do that.'' (1999)
...the birth of his daughter, Lily-Rose
''I feel like there was a fog in front of my eyes for 36 years, and the second she was born, that fog just lifted and everything became totally clear and focused. To say it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me is the understatement of the century. Look at me, I've become a cliché.'' (1999)
...his relationship with actress-singer Vanessa Paradis
''For me, regardless of what your partner does for a living, whether they're a singer or a director or a plumber, what's important is that they have a passion for what they do. Vanessa and I never talk about our work.'' (2004)
...working with Marlon Brando (on films including 1995's Don Juan DeMarco, pictured)
''One of the most important things I learned in the couple of times I worked with Marlon Brando, and just by spending time with him, is it's okay to have a ball. It's okay to have fun and f--- up because, after all, it's only film. If you're able to get to a place where maybe your only motivation in the scene is to make the crew giggle, that's okay too.'' (2003)
...Disney's initial resistance to his offbeat portrayal of Capt. Jack Sparrow
''It was just fuel to go further. Not because I wanted to piss Disney off, but because I believed it was the right thing to do. Finally, I said, 'Look, you hired me to do the gig. If you can't trust me, you can fire me. But I can't change it.' It was a hard thing to say, but f--- it.'' (2006)
...bringing a whoopie-cushion device to the set of Finding Neverland
''There are certain elements of boyhood we can't escape. And farts will always be funny.'' (2004)
...his post-Pirates status as a bankable star
''We had been shooting [Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] for about a month, and I was beginning to get nervous because there weren't any phone calls. I called my agent and asked, Has no one called from the studio to complain or say, 'Hey, what's he doing?' or 'Hey, he's freaking us out'? And when she said no, I thought, 'Christ, I'm not doing enough! Something's wrong!''' (2005)
...putting his own spin on the character of Willy Wonka
''What I was really excited about was a long nose. I brought it up with [director Tim Burton] and he was like, 'Hang on, hang on. A prosthetic nose? Come on!''' (2005)
...stage fright
''My biggest stage-fright moment is anything where you have to go and talk in front of people. Doing the work on set, that's fine. But an appearance, anything where there are a lot of people, especially if you have to say something. Even just standing there I feel like an idiot.'' (2004)
...and other things that scare him
''Clowns.'' (2003)
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