Klaus Kinski

Birthday: 18 October 1926, Zoppot, Free City of Danzig [now Sopot, Pomorskie, Poland]

Birth Name: Nikolaus Günther Nakszynski

Height: 173 cm

Klaus Kinski was born Nikolaus Günther Nakszynski in Zoppot, Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland), to Susanne (Lutze), a nurse, and Bruno Nakszynski, a pharmacist. He grew up in Berlin, was drafte ...Show More

I'm like a wild animal who's behind bars. I need air, I need space. I'm like a wild animal who's behind bars. I need air, I need space.

Sometimes, my heart hurts so much, I beat it with my fists. I try to run. But you cannot run away fr Show more Sometimes, my heart hurts so much, I beat it with my fists. I try to run. But you cannot run away from this. You cannot run from it. Wherever you run, it waits for you. Even when you think you have escaped it, it is there, where you have run to. It waits for you, to ambush you. It is like those vines called lianas, those tropical creepers that grow around you and strangle you. You cut off one branch, but there is another that grows. You leap over the wall of one ghetto and find yourself in another ghetto. Hide

There isn't one role I'd like to play. There are many and there are none. I've always admitted to be Show more There isn't one role I'd like to play. There are many and there are none. I've always admitted to being a prostitute. I sell myself for money. I don't have to see myself up on the screen as Napoleon to feel satisfied about a movie. If you pay me a lot of money, I'll be in your film. Hide

The ultimate acting is to destroy yourself. The ultimate acting is to destroy yourself.

I choose films with the shortest schedule and the most money. I choose films with the shortest schedule and the most money.

If I was doing a movie that was really bad, I always realized that I had to play my role as good as Show more If I was doing a movie that was really bad, I always realized that I had to play my role as good as possible when the camera was on me. The fact that the movie was total shit did not bother me. For example, let's say that there's a hand that is used to playing the violin excellently. Let's say that hand belongs to the world's greatest violinist. But, the man finds himself out of work. Someone tells him "I don't have a job for a violinist but I do have a job for someone who is willing to carry out trash." The violinist takes the job. He has to do his new job well or else he won't get paid. He won't eat. Although his hand is forced to carry garbage, that doesn't diminish the skill of the hand. Hide

So I sell myself, for the highest price. Exactly like a prostitute. There is no difference. So I sell myself, for the highest price. Exactly like a prostitute. There is no difference.

(On directors asking him for a second take) ASSHOLES! Do you ask a car crash for another take? Do yo Show more (On directors asking him for a second take) ASSHOLES! Do you ask a car crash for another take? Do you ask a volcano for another take? Do you ask the storm for another take? Hide

I'd have been better than Adolf Hitler. I could've delivered his speeches a lot better. That's for c Show more I'd have been better than Adolf Hitler. I could've delivered his speeches a lot better. That's for certain. Hide

Making movies is better than cleaning toilets. Making movies is better than cleaning toilets.

(On Werner Herzog) He's a highly talented guy. He does very good movies and he's not the sort of per Show more (On Werner Herzog) He's a highly talented guy. He does very good movies and he's not the sort of person who always talks bullshit. He does many, many things right. But he's also sick. Obsessed. He wants to make history, not movies. Anyone who wants to make history is stupid. Hide

At first, I felt this thing coming up in myself, just really physically growing in myself and happen Show more At first, I felt this thing coming up in myself, just really physically growing in myself and happening, but it was a jungle, so I couldn't distinguish things so much. I knew there were, in myself, the souls of millions of people who lived centuries ago - not just people but animals, plants, the elements, things, even, matter - that all of these exist in me, and I felt this. OK, this pushed and pushed and pushed. OK, that was the beginning... And through the years it became clearer and clearer, this thing; it started to separate itself. I could make it come when I had to concentrate on, let's say, a person I had to become - this thing became stronger. And took more of me. In this moment, I let it do it, because I wanted, I had to be this person. And as I was led to doing it, there was then no way back. And the more I tried to do it, the more I hated it. But there was no way back anymore; it was always going farther and farther and farther. Until one day, when I was walking through the streets of Paris, I started crying, because I could look at a man, a woman, a dog, anything, and receive it, anything, everything; there was no difference between physical and psychological. I felt like I was breaking out, breaking up, receiving everything, every moment, even things I did not see. There is no turning back from this. But this danger is the power you have. It is this same power that lets you hold an audience when you are on a stage. Then it is a concentration, the same concentration that in kung fu is used for the kick that kills or to break a table with your hand. It means that you are sure of the power and that you relinquish yourself to it Hide

I didn't choose to be alone. But I cannot explain this. I could be with a woman in a bed, for weeks Show more I didn't choose to be alone. But I cannot explain this. I could be with a woman in a bed, for weeks even and it would seem to me like three seconds. Or 300 years. There is no time sense because of things that are going on in you. I don't know, there is no explanation of this. But every time, even with someone I.... But whenever I was with a woman, I always sort of want another one. So there was always another one. I can't explain this, but it means that these women, they were not sharing my solitude. I wanted to stay with somebody, but I couldn't, it wasn't possible, because of this thing moving in myself. I had to learn this. I didn't want to be alone, but I had to learn that the dimensions of my feelings are too violent. I had to learn this. Hide

Wer mich beleidigt, entscheide ich. [I decide who offends me.] Wer mich beleidigt, entscheide ich. [I decide who offends me.]

Working with a great director is wonderful for an actor because it means that you're not forced to t Show more Working with a great director is wonderful for an actor because it means that you're not forced to take the advice of an idiot. Hide

If I hadn't refused Ken Russell, Fellini and Spielberg and made their movies when they asked me, my Show more If I hadn't refused Ken Russell, Fellini and Spielberg and made their movies when they asked me, my life would be no different. It is not my fault that I accepted one movie and turned down another. I don't see any point in defending myself, either. Hide

I never said money is freedom! I said money buys freedom. BUYS! What does that mean, money is freedo Show more I never said money is freedom! I said money buys freedom. BUYS! What does that mean, money is freedom? This is ridiculous: Money is freedom. It means nothing. What do you think, that a dollar in a savings account is freedom? Maybe you have understood nothing I have said. You are trying to make me sound like an American average citizen. Hide

Man muß den Menschen vor allem nach seinen Lastern beurteilen. Tugenden können vorgetäuscht sein. Show more Man muß den Menschen vor allem nach seinen Lastern beurteilen. Tugenden können vorgetäuscht sein. Laster sind echt. [One should judge a man mainly from his depravities. Virtues can be faked. Depravities are real.] Hide

Words. Words today block meanings. Words are losing their value these days. People don't communicate Show more Words. Words today block meanings. Words are losing their value these days. People don't communicate what they mean. If someone tells me "This coffee is genius," what does that mean? This is shit. If this coffee is genius, then what does "genius" mean anymore? I don't believe in words anymore. "Have a coke and a smile." I have a coke and it hurts my stomach. I become sick. Hide

The jungle is life itself. A thousand times more alive than anything you've ever seen. We didn't go Show more The jungle is life itself. A thousand times more alive than anything you've ever seen. We didn't go there to be a part of it. We invaded it. We shaved the jungle and made a stinking camp in the middle of it. Radios blaring. It was disgusting. Hide

Klaus Kinski's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (44)

The Hitchhiker - Season 2

Das indische Tuch

The Great Silence (Il grande silenzio) [Sub: Eng]

Le orme

Fitzcarraldo

FantastiCozzi

For a Few Dollars More

Kommando Leopard

Il mio nome è Shangai Joe

If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte)