Desmond Llewelyn Quotes

Actors can't retire. If actors retired, there would be nobody left to play old, wrinkly people. You have to keep going, darling - don't you?

But it's hard to sustain a successful acting career today.

When I'm in Los Angeles, sometimes I hesitate saying that I'm an actor because people are like, 'Of course you are.' And I'm like 'No,' not, 'Of course I am.' In L.A., being an actor is like a pastime: everybody there is like, 'I was on this reality show; I'm an actor.' It becomes a word that is loosely thrown around.

I'm not one of those actors where filmmakers that I admire ask me to be in their movies. I meet them at parties and they're nice to me, but they never ask me to work with them.

Trying to constantly get yourself into movies is extremely stressful and sometimes just impossible.

Thank God for television. I've been able to consistently work in television even when people say, 'Oh my God, I haven't seen you since this film or that project.' At least I'm working. It's very difficult to get that next movie role. I'm grateful to have the television world accept me.

I never understood actors who could just wait around.

Acting is a tough business, and the percentage of people who make it is very low - it's about 1 percent.

Any actor who tells you that he makes choices, absolutely, is wrong. You find work and work finds you.

I began auditioning for acting jobs at the ripe old age of 12. Thirty years later, including a 15-year run on television, I sometimes just get offers for work. Often, however, I am still required to run pell-mell around Los Angeles or New York, interviewing for film and TV jobs.

I live in Minnesota. Lots of people assume that if you want to be an actor, you have to live in Hollywood, but not me.

As an actor, I'm always just so pumped when I get any job. To be a working actor takes a lot of luck.

I love to read scripts. But I am very happy right now to say that I am a working actor. In this town of Los Angeles, the phrase 'I'm an actor' is overrated. So, I like to say, 'I'm a working actor.'

When I first did a U.S. pilot season, there were very few British actors schlepping around town trying to get into television. That was 1999.

When you're lucky enough to pay your bills through acting, staying healthy and fit is part of the job.

Basically, one of the hardest things about being an actor is getting your first break. I'm a product of nepotism. The doors were open to me. I'd done several movies before I decided what I wanted to do.

I've been just like any other working actor, out there looking for stuff.

If you're a young actor, unless you're on a very short list at the studios, we have to be very creative about moving your career along. Otherwise, all we can do is hope to get lucky and find that perfect role that pops you into stardom.

If I'm still acting at 46, I'll be surprised.

It's really hard to make a living as an actor. I'm grateful as I drive to work every morning.

The normal state of an actor is unemployed.

I think everyone has different challenges as a young actress in Hollywood.

I don't want to just be another actor in L.A. looking for a job.

My career has been a roller coaster ride. And every actor experiences that phase.

It's a tough journey as an actor in Los Angeles.