Josh O'Connor Quotes

As an actor, I'm in such a privileged position because my work is job by job. If something doesn't fit in with family life, there's more flexibility.

I think it sits quite happily with me, the condition of being an actor. I see some people getting quite eaten up with it, with the insecurities. There are times when I long for continuity and stability, but I also love the idea of not knowing what I'll be doing next - or even if I'm going to work.

I've never been in jeopardy, but being an actor is a pretty shady place to be because you never know where your next job is.

One of the biggest things I used to struggle with was about things like going on holiday. Whereas all your friends can talk about something and plan something all year long, I know that I'm probably going to be away and I'm going to miss all of it. If a job comes up, you just can't be there.

As an actor, you never know where the work's going to come, so you have to be flexible about it.

It's nice to predict your schedule, especially with a child. It's nice to have work and be in a stable place, which isn't always easy for actors.

Sometimes you know about a job four months in advance. Sometimes you know about a job four days in advance. It's all different, and my thing is just to try to stay prepared. It's like being a boxer. You never know when you're going to get your next fight, so you have to just stay in shape, mentally and physically and creatively.

My day-to-day life changes; I don't have any standard day.

I'm lucky that I get to jump around, do a big-budget comedy and then a smaller film. I don't even make a big distinction between them.

I'd never be tied down for five years interviewing TV personalities.

I have no expectations. Not in a bad way, but I've learned that you can't plan ahead. I live day by day and see what happens.

Because I have no consistent schedule as an actor, it was difficult to develop one as a writer. Ideally, I'd like to write first thing in the morning, every day. But sometimes I'm called to set before the sun comes up, or I've worked late the night before, or I'm on a plane.

It's the life of an actor to always be questioning, always be wondering. There is no occupation in the world less dependable.

I live hour by hour, day by day. I can't even plan a holiday. I go on holiday, like, the day after I book it.

When you're a young actor, you're expected to live a transient life.

Your career is not going to go the way you planned. It is impossible at the age of 23 to pick the right industry, the right company, and you can visualize what you're going to be doing in your 40s, 50s, and 60s, but chances are that it's going to be something quite different. So remain open to opportunities and change.

When I first came to L.A., I was plotting out my career choices as if I actually had a choice. Unless you're Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, impossibly good-looking, or look like a freak, you have to be malleable and open to everything that comes your way because that's what makes it possible to pay your mortgage and eat.

You don't know where you're going to be tomorrow. It's kind of hard to plan a future.

Ours is the most precarious work, as you are in one place today, and tomorrow you are in another.

My training varies so much. There's no such thing as a typical day.

In the beginning, I got different kind of roles, and then I realised it's great to be that way. And that thought is always there before signing a film.

That's the cool thing about how my career has been - you never know where I'm showing up next.

You can't have an organised life and a five year plan and be an actor.

If I flew commercial, I'd have to stop 65% of what I'm doing.

When you're an actor, there are so many opportunities that are not in your control.