Alia Shawkat Quotes

It's scary to not know when your next job is coming, and that is a daily fear when you are trying to act full-time.

The hardest part of acting is not being guaranteed work. Every job could be your last.

Being an actor is just like being any other sort of self-employed person - we're all just happy to have a job in the first place, but we also thrive off the uncertainty of it.

And, hey, I'm not under the illusion that everything's just going to be hunky-dory work wise forever. I've never been under that illusion. Things could go away tomorrow.

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.

Every actor fears unemployment - even me.

When you are a freelancer, you are always looking for a next job. There is always struggle.

Acting isn't a sure thing. We're not set to have jobs for the rest of lives, and fame is really fickle.

As an actor, there's always that fear. You don't know where the next job's coming from, so you say, 'I'll do that, I'll do that, I'll do that'. Your choices are not always clearly thought out, and you can end up taking mis-steps.

Work is fun to me. All those years of being an actor and a director and not being able to get a job - two weeks is too long to not know what my next job will be.

With acting, you have to depend on somebody else to decide if you are allowed to work. You can spend weeks and months when you are not acting at all.

I think the life of an actor is glamorous to other people, but then the reality sets in: you don't know where you will be next year or how long you'll be there for.

I'm not under the illusion that everything's just going to be hunky-dory work wise forever. I've never been under that illusion. Things could go away tomorrow.

There's only two givens with choosing acting as a profession: one is you will always be unemployed, always, and it doesn't matter how much money you make, you're still always going to be unemployed; and that you have no power.

If I didn't get a job, between 16 and 18, that wasn't significant, I was just going to go to college. I didn't want to be a struggling actor at 36 with five kids, doing something I hated. You see the story so much. It's such a vicious business to be in when you're not meant to be in it.

Being at the mercy of the acting profession, in the early days of one's career, is really brutal and feels like you have no control over your life, at all.

This business is so unstable, and you never really know where you're going to be.

This is the weirdest industry. When you have a job, you can't fall into the pitfalls of thinking you're secure. If it's not a firing, it's a strike.

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.

No matter how much money you have, you can lose it.

My parents are very proud of my success but still worry, as I'm in a profession where there is no guarantee of work. They have always supported my decision to go into acting, but there have been tough times work-wise.

But acting is very much a profession that is you're hot one moment and not the next - and that is totally cool. I think that's what I find most fascinating and most exciting about it - is that it can be gone in a puff of smoke.

This is the profession I chose, and you really learn to save your money because you never know how it's going to go, but you still want to get out there and work.

When I left 'Days of Our Lives,' I was like, 'I don't know if I'm ever working again. I'm going to do the best I can. If it happens, great. If not, well... it sucks for me.'

I'm one of those lucky guys making a living out of something I really enjoy doing. That's a blessing. But you never know. What if my subsequent book series flops? I don't come from a wealthy background, so I'd be left with no choice. I'd have to go back into banking!