50 Matthew Gray Gubler Quotes to Remind You to Embrace Your Weird

By Sckylar Gibby-Brown

Writer, Entrepreneur and Inspirational quote curator

Updated June 23, 2022

These Matthew Gray Gubler quotes from the actor, Halloween enthusiast, and genuine weirdo will remind you to stay weird and true to your inner self.

Matthew Gray Gubler did not intend to become an actor.

However, he studied acting in high school because his art school did not offer his first choice, filmmaking.

He attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he graduated with a degree in film directing.

In an internship for Wes Anderson after college, he was encouraged to audition for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

He did, and landed the role of Nico.

This ended up leading to what Gubler is most known for – his role as Dr. Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds.

Gubler is an actor, artist, model, director, author, and illustrator.

As an artistic visionary, Gubler does not like the idea of keeping his art confined to just one type of artform.

We hope you enjoy these Matthew Gray Gubler quotes.

Don’t forget to also check out these Dr. Spencer Reid quotes that prove he’s an amazing character.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration.

Check out our entire collection of motivational quotes here.

Best Matthew Gray Gubler quotes about filmmaking

1. “I’ve always been a fan of Andy Kaufman.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

2. “The way this business works is all about luck and timing.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

3. “What I like most about directing is creating a world more so than anything. To me, the music is the wrapping paper on that world.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

4. “A fantastic actor in a scene that’s just closed off will be good. But when working with a director who knows little tricks – correct music, slowly pushing in – that stunning performance will somehow become even better. I’ve always seen it as a symbiotic relationship.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

5. “I think I veered towards filmmaking because there’s more of a sense of control in it. You’re not waiting to be picked. That said, in film school, I acted in probably 6,000 student films because no other filmmakers knew anyone who wanted to act. It was all a big beautiful snake eating its tail, progressing along the way.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

6. “I’ve always had the utmost respect and awe of what the lens can do and what a director can do with just a camera move.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: Teamwork is powerful and often produces amazing results. You don’t always need a lot of things to accomplish some magical results. Just the right people, in the right places, with the right tools!

7. “My dream is to make the world’s scariest PG movie. Because I feel that if you can do that, then you’ve done something special.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: Always have a dream and be working toward it. Your dream does not have to make sense to anyone else! It is yours, so put in the work, and make it happen.

8. “When I’m directing I’m working from 100% of my brain, but when I’m acting I’m working from my heart.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: If you have a passion that feeds your brain, while another feeds your heart, please don’t sacrifice one for the other! If one becomes a career, while the other becomes a hobby or side hustle, that’s ok! They are both part of you are, so make sure to find a way to balance them out!

9. “I studied directing prior to acting and I’ve done music videos and documentaries and things that were sort of well-received.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: What you are ‘most known for’ might not be thing you intended. Life works strangely (dare I even say weirdly) at times! If you love doing something though, it doesn’t have to be your career, main source of income, or most notable achievement. Just do what you love, and be happy with the way you live your life!

10. “I never thought I’d be making a living off of acting – it’s still kind of a shock for my family and friends to see my face on TV every Wednesday night.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: Sometimes, the paths we end up on in life surprise us! It doesn’t mean they are wrong, or even that we failed! It just means sometimes we have to be ok with adjusting!

11. “All that matters is whether or not you’re doing your best to entertain.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: This is true for actors and entertainers. For the rest of us, all that matters is that we do our best at whatever it is we do. What does doing your best look like? Put in 100% of your effort, understand that failure happens (but it is a chance to learn something), and don’t give up!

Matthew Gray Gubler quotes about acting

12. “My best advice to actors is if you love acting, do it every chance you get.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

13. “I would love to be on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ I’d love to be on that. A lot of my favorite shows get canceled really early on. I liked ‘Twin Peaks.’ If I had a time machine I’d be in that.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

14. “I get really sad when people say, ‘I’m no good. I haven’t been cast in a pilot.’ It doesn’t mean you’re not good; it just means someone hasn’t seen you yet. It doesn’t mean that in real life you’re not the greatest actor.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

15. “I’ve had this unbelievable amount of good fortune and I’m just so thankful for it. But at the same time, I feel exceptionally guilty. I have so many friends who are talented graduates of Juilliard and are exceptional actors and I’m the lucky one that somehow got such a fortunate break.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

16. “Tisch has a great film program and a great acting program, but they are segregated; you don’t really intertwine. My peers knew I liked acting, so they’d be like, ‘Go get that guy Gubler. He’ll be in your student film.’ I was in the same building. I became their go-to guy. So I left NYU having been in probably one thousand short films.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Matthew Gray Gubler quotes about being true to your weird self

17. “Cargo pants freak me out. Too many pockets. I always forget where my wallet is.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

18. “I love polite people, late September, weeping mortar, and my fantastic fands (fans/friends)” — Matthew Gray Gubler

19. “I once gave a girl a bloody fake ear in a Tiffany jewelry box with a letter that said, “will you Gogh to prom with me?” — Matthew Gray Gubler

20. “I’ve taken magic lessons since I was five-years-old. When I was little I would wear a top hat and cape, and I’d get relentlessly beat up by jocks. That’s why I don’t care for sports.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

21. “My favorite time of year is October, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I know that watching horror movies was such a special thing to me as a child and my only dream is that I get to make it feel like Halloween all year round for other kids, for other weirdos like me.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

22. “I get very little sleep. But I try to stay constantly busy. My fear is that if I stop working I’ll, like, die. So throughout my life, I’ve always tried to remain busy, and I sort of know no other way. I think if my heart rate slowed it would affect my constitution, strangely. I’ve been trained to do that.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

23. “If you are lucky enough to find a weirdo never let them go.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: Weirdo is just another word for special and unique. One of my favorite books is Felicia Day’s Embrace Your Weird. Don’t hide away from the best parts of you just because they are different!

24. “I find it’s perfectly acceptable and rather admirable to be moderately delusional.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: What does it mean to live life being moderately delusional? Some people might see that as “seeing the world through rose colored glasses.” Optimism isn’t delusional or bad! Looking for the positive, believing that you can create your destiny, and striving to live your best life are all good things!

25. “Take criticism, smash it into dust, add color & use it to paint breathtaking images of unicorns frolicking thru endless fields of greatness.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: Some criticism is constructive and can actually help you improve. However, most of the time it is just some hater projecting their fears, emotions, and doubts onto you. Don’t get caught up in all of that. Matthew offers a creative perspective on dealing with your hater!

26. “I’m obsessed with coffee. My doctor says if I don’t cut back, I am going to permanently damage my esophagus. No joke.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: Coffee has some health benefits, and people love it. Many can’t start their day without a cup…or five! However, if you are drinking so much coffee that it is damaging you on the inside, it might be time to get more sleep, drink more water, and spend some time outside!

Famous Matthew Gray Gubler quotes

27. “I’m bad at reality.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

28. “Success does not mean success.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

29. “I live in my own bubble. I’m in Gublerland.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

30. “At my sexiest, I look like an androgenous Muppet.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

31. “For 27 days, I had to… sort of lick butter to stay alive.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

32. “I love the holidays – any holiday – but Christmas has always been sort of special because I grew up reading Charles Dickens.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

33. “It’d be cool to chipmunk-ize “The Virgin Suicides” soundtrack. All this ethereal French music, I think that would be unique to listen to.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

34. “I feel like if you wake up in the morning and can breathe, things are sweet. You have nothing to complain about. We’re so lucky. You’re alive, so enjoy it.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

35. “I really cite Walt Disney as teaching me everything I know. It sounds crazy, but I’m serious! In ‘Bambi,’ the mother dies, but you don’t see the corpse. You see the father, the stag, come up and you see Bambi alone, and that has so much more impact than seeing a mutilated deer.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

36. “If you just do a Google search and type in ‘smoking’ or ‘lung cancer’, you will be barraged with never-ending facts and numbers, like how one in every three Americans is affected by lung disease and how COPD is the third leading cause of death and if you get lung cancer the odds are 95% that you will die.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

37. “My heroes have always been the hardworking and unflappable. Those who light a candle rather than curse the darkness.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: You always have a choice in how you react to something. The dark might be there… that is inevitable in this life. You can find a light source and find a way out or you can complain about the situation in which you find yourself. One of these reactions will require you to think outside the box and do some work. The other might feel easier, but you will still be in the dark.

38. “I’ve seen so many beautiful curvy women gain success in Hollywood and then wither into bobble-headed stick figures in some grotesque attempt to fit a revolting Hollywood trend. I like real women, not the broomsticks that Hollywood has been selling lately.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

39. “I guess I’m just in the flow and riding the wave.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: There is a saying that aligns with these words: You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf. The waves, the darkness, the pain, and the struggle are part of life. When you are able to go with the flow, adapt, and react positively you can maintain your happiness. You may not be happy about what is happening in that moment, but with gratitude and a positive mindset you can acknowledge the negative emotions, feel them, and then move on from them.

40. “I’m usually pretty lame when it comes to physical activity, but I’m like a Jedi on the badminton court. It’s as if my body was built specifically for it – tall and lanky, with wrists like mousetraps.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

Everyday Application: This is a good reminder that you do not have to be good at everything to be great at something! Maybe you are a terrible painter, but an excellent writer. That is fine, and keep painting anyway if it is something you enjoy! You will find the thing that you were built specifically for if you keep your options and your mind open.

Other funny Matthew Gray Gubler quotes

41. “France has given us the best filmmakers and food.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

42. “I found out that smoking is the leading cause of statistics.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

43. “My parents instilled a very strong work ethic in me from a young age, fortunately.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

44. “I looked like a ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Goomba. It’s arguably the ugliest haircut on the planet.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

45. “I look a little like Beaker. I think I’m a cross between Beaker and The Count. My hair looks like Oscar the Grouch. It’s Muppety hair.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

46. “I was wearing women’s jeans way before it was cool for guys to wear them. I have a weird torso – it’s incredibly short, and only girl-pants fit me properly.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

47. “I’ve always been a horror fan! Ever since I can vastly remember, and I think it’s because I was so terrified of monsters and ghosts as a kid that I had to sleep in front of my parent’s room until I was 12.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

48. “I just love entertaining. I will do anything – stand-up comedy, video games, fencing, internet shorts – I just want to keep being lucky enough to entertain people any way I can. I try never to limit my art to a medium.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

49. “I’m beyond proud and happy – I never imagined I would have one fan, and there seems to be a few. I just couldn’t be happier that people seem to like what I’m doing and seem to respond to it. If they weren’t there, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now.” — Matthew Gray Gubler

50. “I was horrified of the dark. I realized that the only way I could get over that fear was by scaring other people, so I became obsessed with ghost stories, drawing monsters, watching monster movies, sneaking into horror movies, and it’s just been the love of my life forever.” — Matthew Gray Gubler