They said what? Best celebrity quotes of 2020

(First of two parts)

Part of the allure of interviewing celebrities is getting the know the private persons behind the stellar personas they project in public. We found out they aren’t always one and the same.

In this two-part year-ender piece, we will revisit some of our most memorable celebrity interviews in 2020, conducted since the lockdown in March. Happy New Year, dear readers!

Bryan Cranston’s fascinating imperfections

“I am a person who’s imperfect,” stated Bryan Cranston, explaining the lure of his morally ambivalent characters in “Breaking Bad” and “Your Honor.” “We all have strengths and weaknesses, and in a dramatic narrative, you want to watch someone who is conflicted, who is perhaps trying to become a better person.

“And that’s where members of an audience can place their investment of time, energy and sympathies toward … to root for that person to find his way through this maze of difficulty and come out the other side better.”

George Clooney

George Clooney on man’s propensity for mischief

Asked about humanity’s self-inflicted woes, George Clooney said, “I remember Martin Luther King saying, ‘The arc of moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ I believe in that. It does take a long time to get there. And I believe we’ll eventually head in the right direction. We just have a few pit stops along the way, where we do idiotic things. But I think the world in general is going to figure it out.”

Flavio Alves on much-needed representation in the movies

When we asked filmmaker Flavio Alves if it was true that he hired 50 trans people for his award-winning drama “The Garden Left Behind,” he said, “To be more precise, we had 48 trans men and women in front and behind the camera, and the reason I did it is because representation is important to me.

“I didn’t want a story that would perpetuate misrepresentation. I wanted the film to be authentic. This would help enable people to tell their own stories, because this is about opening doors.”

Armie Hammer

Armie Hammer’s distracting ‘beauty’

When we asked Armie Hammer if he ever felt that his physical pluperfection was getting in the way of people noticing his talent, the dashing 34-year-old actor, acclaimed for his portrayals in “Call Me by You Name” and ‘The Social Network,” said, “I feel like there’s nothing I can really do about it. No, there’s nothing anyone can do about physical appearances.

“I mean, we look like what we look like—and it’s just about coming to terms with it and accepting it. So, I just love acting so much that I’m happy every time someone gives me an opportunity to play an interestng or complicated character.”

Glenn Close on her ‘vanishing act’ in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

“When we started [the shoot], I didn’t want to be distracted by my face,” Glenn explained to Inquirer Entertainment. “I wanted to change it in very subtle ways that wouldn’t make people go, ‘Oh, that’s just Glenn Close with a crazy wig on.’

“So, I went to the people who were my collaborators in ‘Albert Nobbs’ to help me with the hair and makeup, apply a few changes to my nose and ears. So, there came a point when I looked up and said, ‘Ah, there she is … I don’t see myself anymore. Now, I can just take off from here.’’

Son Ye-jin

Son Ye-jin’s advice to young people

Given how successful she’s been as an actress, “Crash Landing on You” actress son Ye-jin has helpful advice for people who are just beginning to pursue their careers. “Young people who are just starting, not only in acting but also in other fields of endeavor, shouldn’t be scared to experience hardship. I have had the same experience. But it helps that I’ve always set a goal [to focus on].”

A good sign for Andrew Koji

“The changes aren’t huge,” said “Warrior” star Andrew Koji when asked about how the series has changed his life. ‘But the fact that I’m talking to you guys—that’s certainly a good sign for me, because I was just painting walls before this (laughs). I didn’t really get lots of offers straightaway—I still had to audition, but at least now, I could get inside the room and show them what I could do.”

Felicity Jones

Felicity Jones’ dilemma

Felicity Jones recalls breaking the news to her “The Midnight Sky” director and co-actor George Clooney that she’s pregnant.

“I was very worried that I would get fired (laughs),” she admitted. “At first, I was trying not to look pregnant, then I was denying myself a lot of chocolate cake. So, when George said, ‘You can be pregnant in the film,’ I was relieved (laughs), thank God! It’s pretty revolutionary to see a pregnant woman in outer space.”

When Jon Jon Briones met Sharon Stone

Wasn’t Jon Jon Briones intimidated sharing scenes with Sharon Stone? “Actually, I did [get intimidated] in my scene with Sharon,” Jon Jon recalled. “I was a foot away from her, and I was like… (he pauses)—after all, this is Sharon ‘Basic Instinct’ Stone we’re talking about (laughs)!

“Then, there was a part where I was having a hard time. So, Sharon came to me, held my hand and just looked at me. Well, she probably said something, but all I remember is just Sharon Stone right in front of me! And that gesture really helped me. Where things like this are concerned, you get over them as you get older. You just have to tell yourself, ‘OK, I’m just as good as they are.’”

Tomohisa Yamashita

Tomohisa Yamashita finds purpose as an actor

What is it about being a performer that actor and J-pop idol Tomohisa Yamashita finds fulfilling? “I once received a letter from a boy who watched a drama (“Code Blue”) in which I played a medical doctor,” the singer-actor told us. “He wrote that watching me save lives in the show made him decide to become a physician.

“Until then, I somewhat felt powerless as I was just playing a role, knowing that I can’t actually save anyone the way real doctors do. But the letter from that boy encouraged me to portray roles with the hope of inspiring people and conveying something good to viewers who watch what I do.”

Noah Centineo yearning to ‘stretch’ as an actor

Doesn’t getting typecast as a heartthrob hinder Noah Centineo’s growth as an actor? “Yeah, absolutely,” the swoon-worthy actor said. “the roles that I’ve worked on over the last five years have been pretty similar to each other. The farthest from any of those has been that of (ADHD-afflicted son) Jesus Foster in Freeform’s family drama series, ‘The Fosters.’ This is particularly true about Jesus’ story arc in the show’s last season (Season 5), where I have traumatic brain injury.

“To be honest, the writing really does a lot of the work for you—and I look forward to playing other characters that are written in a certain way so that I can stretch and move beyond just being a heartthrob. Like I said, it’s a lot about the projects that are on your plate; You say no to the wrong ones, and fight for the right ones.”

Jo Koy on paying it forward

“Imagine me being 9 or 10 years old in America in the ’80s—no one knew what a Filipino was,” he recalled. “So, I was always like an ambassador, helping others get ‘seen’ and appreciated. Every time someone asked me what I was—because I was half-white and half-Filipino—people would always say, ‘What’s that? What’s Filipino? And I always felt like I was selling something and needed to explain where my mom came from—and that was in 1981. It’s now 2020… I feel like I need to pay it forward and help open the door for others like me.”

Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone on her character’s struggle

Asked to explain what drew her to her quirky character in “Ratched,” Sharon Stone said, ‘She’s elegant and dangerous all right, but she’s also not great at being either thing,” the actress pointed out. “She’s kind of pretending to be elegant and struggling to be dangerous—and that’s what I like about her! I like that she’s trying extra hard to be both, even if she’s not really great at any of it.”

Conclusion tomorrow