110+ Brent Spiner Quotes On Versatile, Quirky And Charismatic

Brent Spiner is an American actor, best known for his role as the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has also appeared in films such as Independence Day, Out to Sea, and The Aviator. Spiner has also lent his voice to several animated films and television series, including the Disney/Pixar film The Incredibles. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Brent Spiner on life, versatile, quirky.

Top 10 Brent Spiner Quotes

1. I'm an avid biography reader.
2. Timing is everything, as you know.
3. I think it's the business part of the word show business that causes me the most concern.
4. I think the potential for man is so enormous, if we can stay alive long enough, we're going to be seeing a lot of what Star Trek is projecting.
5. When I go to the old folks' home, I'm gonna be sitting in a rocking chair, telling everybody how I worked with Jack [Lemmon] and Walter [Matthau].
6. My own personal favorite Cher song is the unforgettable Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.
7. [The Aviator] came about through John Logan, who I've been friends with for many years.
8. Radical surgery is never fun.
9. I think we're all fans, and I understand the whole world of fandom, because I am a fan.
10. I don't read Science Fiction.

Brent Spiner Short Quotes

• I don't know you could do a whole film about Dr. Okun from Independence Day.
• I don't read fiction at all.
• Acting is acting.
• A job is a job. And I like to work.
• Can't argue with Gene Roddenberry. He was a pretty brilliant guy.
• [Independence Day] was a sweet, sweet job, because it was one of those big surprises.
• Having spent so much time in a fictional world, I prefer to read about the real world.
• I felt like I was a natural [in The Simpsons].
• I always refer to [Stardust Memories] as Sharon Stone's and my first film.
• I tended to do a lot of shows that were ahead of their time and didn't run very long.

Brent Spiner Quotes About Data

If I'm not mistaken, I think Data was the comic relief on the show. — Brent Spiner

I think he is an extremely accessible character. In Data there is no potential for cruelty. — Brent Spiner

And I think it's likely that there will be Data's out there one day. I hope so, if there are, that they all look exactly like me! — Brent Spiner

I have to go with Data's makeup, because that was basically every day, 10 months out of the year, for seven years. There were only a couple of days that I had to endure for Dr. Soong. — Brent Spiner

Yes, Data is hairless but I am not. And we are both anatomically correct. — Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner Quotes About Business

If you look around at the people in show business today they are basically the people who didn't give up. — Brent Spiner

There is no question that everybody who works in show business is lucky because of the number of people who wish they where working in show business. — Brent Spiner

I do know that when I look around in show business, I see a lot of people who were in my drama class in high school. — Brent Spiner

And, you know, when you are a kid, everybody wants to be an actor. I think that everybody wants to be in show business, frankly. — Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner Quotes About Star

I like to think of myself as the Rutger Hauer of this show Star Trek: The Next Generation. But then I like to think of myself as Rutger Hauer in real life: strikingly handsome, irresistible to women, an intergalactic enigma. — Brent Spiner

They were nicely written and nicely directed episodes [Star Trek: Enterprise]. I enjoyed working with Scott [Bakula]. So it was good to do, and, as you said, it did serve to enhance the Soong legacy. — Brent Spiner

I think Rick Berman just called me and asked me if I wanted to do the show [Star Trek: Enterprise], and he said they'd write an arc if I'd do it. — Brent Spiner

I've worked with some great people [in Star Trek], and I was paid handsomely, and it was a nice role. So the whole experience was positive for me. — Brent Spiner

I didn't really watch the show [Star Trek]. I still haven't seen about 150 of them. So I didn't really think of them too much in terms of episodes. I thought of them as kind of one long seven-year episode. — Brent Spiner

Rick Berman, who produced Star Trek, was a big Night Court fan. So he knew who I was as soon as I walked in. — Brent Spiner

One of the things about working on Star Trek that was always so great was that we all got along as well as we did. We really became family. — Brent Spiner

I did have a tiny moment in a TV movie called My Sweet Charlie, starring Patty Duke. — Brent Spiner

People think that being on Star Trek is career suicide, but it's really just the opposite. — Brent Spiner

I don't think everybody wanted to be on [new Star Trek series] . I certainly didn't. — Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner Quotes About People

There's such a grand fraternity of actors who've played the Joker, not the least of whom is Mark Hamill, who voiced it for so long and was so great. I did it one time and... I've gotten some feedback on it from people who've seen it and really enjoyed it, but I don't know. — Brent Spiner

I went to New York out of college, and in my day, we were told that was the way you became a good actor. You don't go to Hollywood, you go straight to New York and work in the theater. So that's what most of the people I knew did. — Brent Spiner

I try to do as much as I can. I probably knew more about Earl Mills than anybody on earth besides people who actually knew him. — Brent Spiner

John Logan pretty much does the Woody Allen thing of just bringing people in and meeting them. — Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner Famous Quotes And Sayings

The woman who wrote the movie [Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains], her name is Nancy Dowd. She's a wonderful writer. She wrote Coming Home. And when I read the script, at that time, I thought, "This movie is going to do for girls what Breaking Away did for boys." I thought it was going to be huge. It was a great script. — Brent Spiner

Both of the Quaid brothers, Randy and Dennis, were in my class, and Tommy Schlamme, who produced and directed The West Wing with Aaron Sorkin, among many others. Marianne Williamson, who did A Course In Miracles, she was in my high-school drama class, too. So it was kind of an amazing class. — Brent Spiner

I had no idea I was part of what was going to be a big mega-hit. I thought I was doing a B sci-fi movie [Independence Day]. And, actually, it was Jeff Goldblum who looked at me one day and said, "You know, I think this is going to be really something." And I said, "Well, I hope you're right." And sure enough, it turned out to be. — Brent Spiner

We got to be really good friends [Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau]. It was just thrilling, every day. Every single day. I had a big couple of musical numbers in [Out to Sea], and I remember doing one of them and shooting it from beginning to end. — Brent Spiner

Rent Control is not a terrible movie, certainly not for the budget they had. And, again, it's such an '80s kind of thing. — Brent Spiner

The Dain Curse [Tom Fink] was a great job. I was in New York, and I was young - I think I'm 28 years old in that - and I got to work with James Coburn and Jean Simmons and Jason Miller. Plus, it was a Dashiell Hammett story, and I had a great character. It was fantastic to shoot. — Brent Spiner

Voice acting is about the easiest thing to do. You roll out of bed, throw your clothes on that you had on the night before, you go into the studio, and nobody cares, just as long as you can speak. — Brent Spiner

I've played myself before this ["Brent Spiner"] - and I've played myself since, for that matter - and playing yourself one of the most difficult characters you can play, 'cause God knows most of us don't know who that is. — Brent Spiner

So we [with Chris Ellis] did [Fresh Hell], and we did the first five episodes as a lark, just to see if anybody would respond or be interested, and we got enough feedback that was positive that we thought, "Let's keep going with this and see if we can flesh it out a bit this season." We've had 10 episodes, and they've been longer and a little more complete. — Brent Spiner

Dr. Okun. Who's named after a special-effects guy named Jeff Okun, who had done Stargate for Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who did Independence Day. But "Brakish" just came up one day when Jeff Goldblum and I were improvising, and he told me his character's name and I told him mine. — Brent Spiner

Earl Mills is probably the best role I've ever been given in a film. And it was a great experience to work with Halle [Berry] and Klaus Maria Brandauer, an Austrian actor who's a hero of mine. Martha Coolidge directed the movie [Introducing Dorothy Dandridge], giving me another shot, and it was an amazing experience. — Brent Spiner

Rent Control was an interesting movie. It was directed by... I had done a couple of plays off Broadway, and this Italian director came, his name was Gian Luigi Polidoro, and he determined I was the person to play the lead in his low-budget comedy. He'd won an award at the Venice Film Festival, and... He was, y'know, a skilled director. — Brent Spiner

We were kind of never one of CBS favorites [with Threshold], even though we'd gotten really good reviews for the pilot. We were on at, what was it, 10 o'clock on a Friday night? That's kind of where you bury a show if you don't want it to last. But, wow, what a cast, huh? You could never get that cast together again. — Brent Spiner

I'm, like, y'know, I didn't have a problem doing one scene in Dude, Where's My Car? I'm certainly not going to have a problem doing one scene in a [Martin] Scorsese movie! — Brent Spiner

You look at that movie [Dude, Where's My Car?] now, and you know exactly when it was made. And that's what kids were like then. — Brent Spiner

I think I was technically uncredited as Local #1, because there were three of us. But I had the most lines [in My Sweet Charlie]. — Brent Spiner

It really was not that difficult a process, because I was playing [Data from Star Trek] something that doesn't exist. So it was really based on... Imagination was the key element in that, and whatever I could think of, I could do, because there was no precedent for it. It wasn't like someone was going to say, "Well, an android would never do that." They didn't know! — Brent Spiner

That job [on Out to Sea], more than any I've ever done, I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning. And not only that, but I had a great part. So it was just beyond fun on every level. — Brent Spiner

Of course, when you see [ musical numbers] in the movie [Out To Sea ], it's cut into a lot with other scenes, but we shot the number straight through, so here I am doing it, and sitting right in front of me in the audience was Donald O'Connor. And I was, like, "Oh, my God, I can't believe I'm performing a musical number in front of Donald O'Connor," who's one of the greats of the silver screen. But it was a thrilling experience, it really was. — Brent Spiner

[Out To Sea] began a relationship I had with [director] Martha Coolidge for a few years that was wonderful, and she certainly cast me in the best roles I've ever had in film. — Brent Spiner

Pierre [from Dude, Where's My Car?] could be the best thing I've ever done. When you distill it down to a minute and a half of work, that may be my finest effort. — Brent Spiner

I think that Enterprise was getting better and better, actually, and if it had kept going, I think it would've turned into as good a show as any other in the Star Trek franchise. — Brent Spiner

A couple of years ago, I went to see a production of Wicked in San Francisco with a friend of mine, one that Patty Duke was in, and he said, "Do you want to meet her?" And I said, "Yeah!" And I went backstage, and she walked out of her dressing room, looked at me, and said, "I know you." And I went, "Well, uh, yeah, I was in My Sweet Charlie." And she said, "Yeah! You were the guy in the car on the road!" And I was. It was amazing. — Brent Spiner

Dana Carvey is hilarious. He's a really, really funny, talented guy. You know, I can't think of anything I've ever done that I regret doing, and I certainly don't regret doing Master Of Disguise, because I got to hang around Dana. — Brent Spiner

[ Felicia Day] is really figured it all out, and it was impressive. It was nothing like our set, because her set was like working on a real film. — Brent Spiner

John Logan is maybe the No. 1 screenwriter in the world today, not to mention that he won a Tony for Best Play for Red. So he may just be the best writer period right now. He wrote The Aviator, and I was in New York doing a play, and he asked if they would see me for the film, just meet with me. 'Cause that's what Martin Scorsese does. — Brent Spiner

I did learn a lot from [ Felicia Day], though, and I was able to usurp some of her talent. — Brent Spiner

I love the South Park guys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They're geniuses. I throw that word around a lot, but I really do mean it. — Brent Spiner

I think I worked an average of about 10 minutes a day [in Big Bang Theory series]. It took longer to get to the studio than I actually worked. So I regard the driving there as the actual job. The work itself was just fun. — Brent Spiner

I mean, I'm the tag of the [ Big Bang Theory ] show! That was one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. — Brent Spiner

Like, she had a caterer, she had wardrobe people, she had two makeup artists... I mean, we have makeup and we have wardrobe, but Felicia [Day] was, like, on it. She had two cameras operating, sets, extras everywhere. It was unbelievable. I don't know what her budget was or is, but she had sponsors for her show, and we don't have a sponsor yet, so basically, the difference is, our moms make our costumes. — Brent Spiner

Needless to say, I was impressed by Felicia [Day] and her moxie with how to do a web series. I mean, she's the queen of the web. — Brent Spiner

I think honestly, believe it or not, that Dude, Where's My Car? in a way represents its time better than almost any film made around that. — Brent Spiner

I had a really nice time on [Alphas]. It was a bunch of really good actors, and I was particularly thrilled to be working with David Strathairn. — Brent Spiner

I wanted to look right. I remember a review - a very positive one - in The New York Times that said I was so good in the role [Earl Mills] that I "even managed to overcome a terrible red wig." I wanted to write her and tell her about the agony I'd gone through with the perm, but I thought better of it. — Brent Spiner

It just occurred to me that there are some beautiful shots [in Rent Control] with the World Trade Center in the background. — Brent Spiner

I got to play a funny part [in the The Master Of Disguise]. There was one thing my character did that involved flatulence and laughing at the same time - that was in the script - and that was basically what sold me on it. I really thought, "This can't help but be funny." And when I saw the film, I was proud that I'd had those moments. — Brent Spiner

When I get to work with people I admire, it's such a bonus, so it was an easy sell when I got this phone call asking, 'Will you do this thing with David Strathairn?'" Also, they didn't ask me to audition, which is another bonus. But they said, "All your scenes will be with David," and I said, "I'm there!" — Brent Spiner

That was a really interesting series [Threshold ] that I think would've been really great had it continued. I know Brannon Braga, who was running the show at the time, had a lot of really interesting ideas for what was going to happen the second, third, fourth, and fifth seasons, and they had it really planned out what was going to go on. But CBS just decided to pull the plug on it. — Brent Spiner

I assumed, "Well, I must've sounded like Conan O'Brien, or a reasonable facsimile or something." And there I am in the movie [South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut ]. I was very lucky. — Brent Spiner

It's fun to do something different. And there are things you can do in a small palate that you can't necessarily do in a larger role. You can go a little further and do things you could never pull off for any length of time, but you can do for the short run. — Brent Spiner

The one on Fresh Hell is a little easier, because we make it up. It's a strange kind of hybrid of the real me and... Well, obviously it's me standing there, and it's my voice and my face, but it's also kind of filtered through Harry Hannigan's take on the character, the one he's writing. — Brent Spiner

That's what kids were like then. So I really like the movie [Dude, Where's My Car? ], I think it's genuinely funny, and I wish I hadn't been so arrogant about it. And, of course, I didn't know it was going to be my best work, either. — Brent Spiner

I had a fantastic teacher in high school. I had one of those guys you dream of having, who molds your life and inspires you to go in a particular direction, and he was quite brilliant. His name was Cecil Pickett, and a lot of the kids from my high-school drama class are in professional show business and have done quite well. — Brent Spiner

[Martin Scorsese ] basically works just like any other director. You work the scene, you try to find what's best in it and make it work. That's what it was like. — Brent Spiner

I know a guy who writes on the show, it was his episode, and he called and said, "Would you do it?" And I said, "Yeah." There's not really much else to tell, except that I was thrilled to be on The Simpsons, because it's one of the greatest series in the history of television. — Brent Spiner

I really enjoyed Eddie Bracken. He told me a great story. He did The Odd Couple on Broadway, replacing Art Carney, and he said, "Art Carney did it for six months and I did it for three years, and I don't think anyone I've ever spoken to saw me. They all saw Art Carney." — Brent Spiner

It was kind of an amazing class. I went to the Strasberg Institute in New York for a little while after I got there, and I've never seen anybody who was in any of my classes there ever again. I mean, that's not to say they didn't become somebody. I'm not sure. I mean, Sam Jackson could've been in my class, for all I remember. — Brent Spiner

Basically, my deal is that I choose roles based on three criteria. One is the role, obviously, if it's something that speaks to me. Two is, are they gonna pay me? And three is, who am I gonna work with? And, really, if one of those is there, I'm pretty likely to do it, but it's particularly important to me who I'm going to work with, 'cause that's part of the joy. — Brent Spiner

It seemed like an interesting movie [Independence Day], and I thought I had a take on the part that was going to be unique. That doesn't happen to me very often. — Brent Spiner

I did a great show Off-Broadway called Leave It To Beaver Is Dead that was at the Public Theater in New York. It was written by Des McAnuff, who's an illustrious director now, and it starred... Well, I was in it, Mandy Patinkin, Dianne Wiest, Saul Rubinek, and Maury Chaykin. It was an amazing show. But it was definitely ahead of its time, and people didn't quite get it. — Brent Spiner

We had lunch that day [with Chris Ellis], and I was talking about this idea. I toyed with it a little bit on Twitter in story form at one point. And he thought it was a great idea, and he thought, "Well, let's bring my friend Harry Hannigan in, who's a wonderful writer, and let's see if we can put something together." — Brent Spiner

I really enjoyed doing that [Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2004) - "Graham Barnes"]. I got to work with Margaret Colin, who was a blast to work with, and a wonderful actress, and Taylor Roberts. She was fantastic. And getting to work with Vincent D'Onofrio, who's amazing. But I loved the characters of the parents, these sick psychiatrists. — Brent Spiner

[Fan In Lobby from Stardust Memories] that was just after The Dain Curse. My other big uncredited role from back then. — Brent Spiner

I didn't audition or anything like that. But I went into John Loganhis office... It was his screening room in his office, actually, and I sat and schmoozed with him for about two minutes, which I think is standard, and, y'know, we got on fine. — Brent Spiner

The kid in the episode [of Tales From The Darkside ] was played by Christian Slater! He was all of about 12 or so, but I've run into Christian many times since then, and he always does his line from Tales From The Darkside whenever he sees me. — Brent Spiner

I think it was somewhere around age 3 when I fell down the stairs at my house, and I got up and did a Jerry Lewis impression and got a big laugh. And I thought, "Oooh, I like that. I think I need to do this for a living!" — Brent Spiner

Im thinking of going into rehab. Im not addicted to anything, but I think its good way to jumpstart an acting career. — Brent Spiner

Of those, the only one that really stands out for me is Tales From The Darkside, for a couple of reasons, one in particular being who I got to work with on it, which was Eddie Bracken. I mean, what a man. Someone who's done Preston Sturges movies, and I actually got to work with him? And he was great. — Brent Spiner

[Voice acting] is such an easy job. It's like stealing money, really. Which I'm always happy to do. — Brent Spiner

Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, the guys who run that show [Big Bang Theory], are really funny and really smart, and the cast is fantastic to work with. — Brent Spiner

I got Greg Aronowitz, who does [ Felicia Day] sets, to do mine as well, and he's just amazing. He can work miracles with nothing. — Brent Spiner

We [with John Logan] started talking about The Searchers, and then he went on to tell me a story about when he first met John Wayne, and he said, "Hey, you be me and I'll be Wayne," and I said, "No, let me be Wayne!" Anyway, it was a very pleasant conversation, it was clear to him that I was a big movie fan, and by the time I got home, there was a phone call, asking if I'd mind doing one scene in the movie [The Aviator]. — Brent Spiner

It was a fabulous experience shooting [in the Aviator], working with Leo [DiCaprio] and Danny Huston in the scene. It was great. I think what was most eye-opening about it was that [Martin] Scorsese was just like any good director you work with. — Brent Spiner

Although I could be wrong. If Roland Emmerich's thinking about doing that at some point, I'd be glad to don the long hair again. But sometimes you can just go a little bit further out with something you're only going to be doing for a short run — Brent Spiner

Joey being one of my finest performances ever. Matt LeBlanc's basically doing the same thing right now, playing himself on Episodes. When I did Joey, I really leaned on them to make me the biggest ass they possibly could, because, frankly, everyone in their heart of hearts thinks of themselves that way. Or at least I do, anyway. — Brent Spiner

Actually, I had a really nice part in that movie [Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains]. I mean, I have, like, one second in the final-cut version, where I say "You're fired" to Diane Lane. That's about all you see of me. — Brent Spiner

Obviously we're doing a comedy [Fresh Hell], and our intent is to entertain, but we're also really aware and trying to stay aware of the subtext of what it's like to reach a certain age and be dismissed, basically, from the fraternity you've always wanted to be a part of, and the desperation involved in trying to claw your way back into it. — Brent Spiner

Harry [ Hannigan] and Chris [Ellis] are sitting there while we're doing [ Fresh Hell], and Chris is directing, obviously, but if we start fooling around a little bit, Harry comes in, and he's got some addition that makes it even funnier. But we start with a complete script. — Brent Spiner

So it was a really pleasant surprise when [Independence Day] turned out to be a successful film. I don't know if you've heard that they're going to be re-releasing it next Fourth of July in 3-D. I've actually only seen it once, and it was in Hawaii, in a little theater in Oahu shortly after it was released. But Roland Emmerich is a really smart guy, and he makes really fun movies to watch. — Brent Spiner

Initially I objected to the Data makeup. I said, "Why do I need this makeup? Why can't I just look like me?" In fact, I said to Gene Roddenberry, "Don't you think that by this time in history, they would've figured out how to make skin look like skin?" And he said, "What makes you think that what you have isn't better than skin?" And I went, "Um, okay." — Brent Spiner

Life Lessons by Brent Spiner

1. Brent Spiner has taught us to never give up on our dreams, no matter how difficult they may seem. He pursued his acting career for many years before achieving success, and his persistence and dedication have been an inspiration to many.
2. Brent Spiner has also shown us the importance of staying humble and grateful. He has remained humble and thankful for his success, and has used his platform to help others.
3. Finally, Brent Spiner has demonstrated the power of staying true to oneself. He has stayed true to his values and beliefs, and has not let fame or success change who he is.