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Joe Pantoliano’s Golden Rules
Joe Pantoliano's stars in Unknown (2006). Photo: IFC Films
1. The secret to my success? Being employed is not all about what you do in the room; it’s how you carry yourself in the clothing that you wear.
2. Make three movies per year: One for the art, one for the money and one for the location. I was once told that that was the golden rule James Mason lived by and now I live by those immortal words.
3. Great actors are a dime a dozen. Acting is really a personality business. You want to be surrounded by people you wouldn’t mind having a beer with and who aren’t going to be high maintenance, cause just making a movie is high-maintenance enough.
4. We’re in the business of failure. Get used to it. In order for someone to succeed, someone has to fail. Do people honestly think that moviemakers go out and work for 10 years to raise money to make the worst movie possible? But you just never know…you have to catch lightning in a bottle.
5. I give moviemakers the illusion that they don’t have to worry about me. When I go in and I meet people, when I’m describing how I’m going to play the part, I want to reassure these potential employers that I’m not going to be a problem. Then they hire me and after three days on the set I become the biggest douchebag in the world.
6. I liked playing bad guys early in my career, like in Risky Business, because they always got to wear Armani suits. But after the jobs were over, the producers would steal half my wardrobe. So now that I’m a producer, I get to steal my own wardrobe. I get my producing partner to call me up to say that we need the wardrobe back. It’s like wearing two hats, though technically I have to call that wearing one hat—because I’m stealing the other one.
7. Work with first-time directors. Sometimes they go on to have extraordinarily impressive careers. I did Taylor Hickford’s first movie, Michael Bay’s first movie, Chris Nolan’s first movie, the Wachowski brothers’ first movie. They then hired me to be in The Matrix…
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by trade show displays on 2/22/08 at 4:43 pm
I think i will start to see some of your movies.
- Comment by seller business on 4/03/08 at 9:55 pm
The movie business is defiantly a hard business to be in. Nice post though.
- Comment by trade show displays on 6/23/08 at 12:07 pm
Joe, I can’t believe a lot of actors would agree with you that “Great actors are a dime a dozen”. It’s an interesting thought. Based on the movies I’ve seen, a lot more are missing dimes than have dimes. That said, watching movies is one of my favorite pasttimes - I can’t imagine life without Hollywood. I liked your other Golden Rules as well. BTW, for anyone wondering about the Golden Rules for designing trade show displays, feel free to check out my website. Well designed trade show displays definately aren’t a dime a dozen, but if you get one, it can earn you many a dime at your next trade show.
PS. Good advice on working with first time directors - every famous director had to be a first-timer at some point!- Comment by Pet Dogs on 7/20/08 at 2:28 pm
When I wanted to be a screen writer I realized how cutthroat the entire business is, glad I decided not to pursue screenwriting or anything related to the film business.
- Comment by Trade Show Booths on 7/30/08 at 1:26 pm
Great tips on how to approach your movie career. I especially like your comment number 2 it shows that your not strictly in business for money and fame
- Comment by jia on 7/12/09 at 10:59 am
When I wanted to be a screen writer I realized how cutthroat the entire business is, glad I decided not to pursue screenwriting or anything related to the film business.
- Comment by oyun hileleri on 6/23/10 at 8:41 am
hmm very good post:D
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- Comment by Sikis on 8/31/10 at 8:34 am
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- Comment by sniper2 on 9/27/11 at 4:57 pm
This story was published in the Summer 2006 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
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