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Daily Inspiration Quote by Dennis Farina

"You can change a person's life in an instant; put him in a movie, and you start thinking differently, you want to be in another movie. It's like an addiction almost"

About this Quote

Farina’s line lands because it frames acting less as art and more as a behavioral switch: one role doesn’t just pay the bills, it rewires your sense of what’s possible. “Change a person’s life in an instant” isn’t romantic here; it’s almost procedural. The instant is the casting call, the set badge, the sudden legitimacy. Once you’ve been placed inside the machine, your self-concept updates to match the new environment. You start “thinking differently” because the world starts treating you differently.

The subtext is about status as a drug, and Farina knows the chemistry. He came to acting after a long stretch as a Chicago cop, which gives this observation a street-level bluntness: he’s describing compulsion, not inspiration. “Put him in a movie” makes the person sound passive, like something you insert into a system. That choice of wording quietly critiques the industry’s power to confer identity. The movie doesn’t just showcase you; it authorizes you.

The addiction comparison does two things at once. It punctures the glamour (this isn’t a lofty calling, it’s craving), and it explains why the chase rarely ends. One credit becomes proof of access, and proof becomes appetite. Farina’s intent feels less like confession than warning: cinema doesn’t only create stars; it creates customers of their own attention, always looking for the next hit of being chosen.

Quote Details

TopicMovie
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Farina, Dennis. (2026, January 16). You can change a person's life in an instant; put him in a movie, and you start thinking differently, you want to be in another movie. It's like an addiction almost. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-can-change-a-persons-life-in-an-instant-put-104206/

Chicago Style
Farina, Dennis. "You can change a person's life in an instant; put him in a movie, and you start thinking differently, you want to be in another movie. It's like an addiction almost." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-can-change-a-persons-life-in-an-instant-put-104206/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"You can change a person's life in an instant; put him in a movie, and you start thinking differently, you want to be in another movie. It's like an addiction almost." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-can-change-a-persons-life-in-an-instant-put-104206/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.

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Dennis Farina (born February 29, 1944) is a Actor from USA.

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