Movies were invented for Jimmy Cagney, and he was invented for the movies. A perfect match.

There's a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven't. You just do the best you can.

When I was a kid, I thought movies just came from air. I thought they just appeared.

There's a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven't. You just do the best you can.

I like Italian movies. I was frequently there in the '60s, in Rome and the vicinity. It was a great period in life. I was very influenced by their stuff.

When I did 'Bird,' it was a surprise to some people, first because I wasn't in it and second because most of the films I'd been doing were cop movies or westerns or adventure films, so to be doing one about Charlie Parker, who was a great influence on American music, was a great thrill for me.