John C. McGinley Quotes

"I go downstairs and don't come up from there until I get that stuff hammered in my skull, until I can do it water skiing or jumping out of a plane. It's all about the text, flushing it out, to excavate, to really get in there and see what falls through your fingers." - On how he memorizes his lines and prepares for his roles.

"With my dorky head, I guess I just wasn't handsome enough. I'd do the audition but never hear back. TV tends to look for the living equivalents of squeaky-clean Kens and Barbies, but with my dial I'm more like Ken's dirty old uncle." -On why he feels he never landed a role as a TV series regular until "Scrubs"

"When Johnny and I were shooting The Jack Bull in Calgary, he told me just to go up and knock on Al's trailer door. That's is the secret of talking to him. If no one knocks on his door, he stays closeted up by himself. It really worked. I spent a lot of time talking to Al." (On talking to his Any Given Sunday costar, Al Pacino)

"The [Scrubs] pilot script's notes described the character as a John C. McGinley-type.' Now, I don't know what that type is, but I said, Well, you've got him.' I still had to audition five times for the network."