Ricky Schroder Quotes

I'm 64 years old, and I've been acting now for 42 years. Only recently have I thought to myself, 'Hmmm, it may be interesting to start directing.'

I think that, as an actor, you have to break out eventually, and if you do it properly, it can be something that's positive.

I came of age as a male lead actor just as the TV landscape dramatically shifted.

I think actors worry too much about age. They should just get out there and make sure they're up for whatever jobs come along.

As an actor, you can show up on a set and be on a TV show for three or four years, or whatever it is and, by the end of it, you just want to do something else.

I've been looking for ways to audition more, because it also keeps me sharp and keeps my ambition at its firm edge. That's something that I'm actively engaged in conversations about now with my reps: What's out there that I can really either put myself on tape for, or meet with the director for and read for? How do we do that? We're now at the end of the Star Trek reboot trilogies and whether we are going to do another movie remains to be seen, and so I feel like I'm at the end of this cycle that began with me coming out of school and auditioning and building my way up.

Usually being a young actor, you've got to go through certain levels of hierarchy, going through bit parts and extra roles and then kind of progressing up the food chain and having the size of your roles grow in that sense.

I came to The United States to see what would happen in 2000 after working for 20 years in Australia and asked my agent to look out for the nasty roles because I'd become famous for playing the nicest man in Australia. So I wanted to play bad guys. But I've been doing that now for 13 years so when I was offered the chance to do some comedy, I grabbed it.

I had been working predominantly and steadily as a dancer, so after awhile, you don't have to audition. I was just in that world, and I had certain goals I wanted to reach, but I definitely always wanted to keep going and challenge myself and become an actor.

Actors don’t retire. They just get offered fewer roles.

I think that as actresses - and I've definitely gone through this in a really bizarre way, because I worked so much and was really lucky with the roles that I got when I was younger - I remember hearing the older actors saying, "It gets tough," and thinking, "Really? I can't imagine."

I'm glad to be an actor to be employed by people who are now 12, probably. I look forward to that.

What I've discovered from working with my father is that I'm still learning. I'm just a kid in this business. And I've seen from my father transitioning into being a director, that's where the power lies. And, like he says, it's feast or famine for an actor. If you're not creating your own material, then you're just fighting for whatever's out there. I definitely have the desire to go to the other side.

A large part of the reason I want to be so mysterious is so that I can move on and do something serious at some point in my career X years from now. It might be very difficult otherwise, because I'm... wild

When I think of my career, I can't help but think of the kid with his ball, falling in love.

See, the first thing about actors is, you're just trying to get a job; and you audition and audition and you finally get them. And you still consider yourself an auditioning actor. I auditioned for One Fine Day, I wasn't offered that. So you're still in that 'Hey, I'm just trying to get a job' thing. Then, you get to the point where, if you decide to do it, then they'll make the film. That's a different kind of responsibility, and it usually takes a couple of films to catch up. And then you have to actually pay attention to the kind of films that you're making.

People ask, 'What's the best role you've ever played?' The next one.

To grow: that is your deepest and truest need when you say, 'I want to be an actor.'

I meet a lot of young people that want to go into acting because they think of what it will do for them. If that's the case, it can be a very, very painful profession. But if the kids want to do acting because they love it, and they want to give to it, then they can have a great life. It's really about as simple as how you look at it.

I've done seven movies in eight years, and with each movie I feel like I'm learning a lot. I'm still young-ish, so I still feel like I'm in the zone of learning and creating. Those are the perfect places to do that. And in a weird way, you have a lot of freedom.

I feel like I've found my voice in the actor's business. Because when you first get out of school and you're looking for jobs, you don't want to rock the boat - you can't rock the boat. You'll get known for being that sassy girl that, like, has no résumé and no one wants to work with her. But now, I'm "proven," at least in the television world, and hopefully in the theater world. I'm working on the film world. Unfortunately, it takes a while to build that kind of street cred. It's been recently that I even started to have more confidence in myself.

The cliché about young actors is that they want to diversify the work that they do to show their range, but it's true. Or at least, for me, I want to keep doing different stuff; doing different work, you see different things.

With my career in general, I feel like I'm finally getting to do the roles that I've always wanted to do. It's a slow build; you can't ever get the roles that you want in the beginning of your career because you don't have the buzz or the heat, or whatever the hell it is you need for the agents and the studios to be happy.

If I'd made it right away as an actor, I would've stopped at a certain level and stayed there, probably as a character actor.

As a musician-turned-actor, you ordinarily face one of two scenarios. Either all the pressure of success or failure is on your shoulders, so if the picture does poorly, you might never get another movie role, or you have a situation where you already have an anchor, which allows you to work your way up the ranks.