Michael Clarke Duncan Quotes

Let's say you're all worried about student-loan debt and you need to have steady income. That doesn't have to be your everything.

There was a point in time where I was doing movies to be able to afford to live in a certain way.

I used to say when I was working in the theater that if I ever had five seasons of a hit TV show I'd never have to worry about money and wouldn't have to do anything I didn't want to do.

Sometimes I really need the money, really need to go straight to work. But if I had the absolute choice - money no object, my mortgage paid off - I'd really just work once or twice a year - but wouldn't everybody! - or at least do a different job sometimes.

The more you live, the better an actor you are, but maybe I'd like to do something else on the side. Something to pay the bills as well.

As long as the cheques carry on coming in, and I'm enjoying my work, I shall continue acting.

There will always be ways to pay my rent, whether I wind up having to be a waitress on the side or whatever it is, but I think it's so important for me to do things that I'm passionate about.

I save money when I'm working so that I never have to take a role simply to pay the bills.

I'm lucky because my dad taught me to be frugal and save. And that's important because I want to know that I don't have to take an acting job for two or three years if I don't want to and that I'll still be able to make my house and car payments and buy food for my dogs.

Acting never was about the money for me... Maybe in 10 years, I'll be able to appreciate the fact that I am financially stable and independent and I don't have to make bad choices. I can be very picky.

I wanted to build up a little nest egg and go back to L.A. and choose roles that I wanted to do instead of roles that I had to do to pay the bills.

Money was always on my mind when I was growing up. So I was always wondering how we were going to afford this and that. Acting seemed to be a shortcut out of the mess.

Even though I'm already successful and have a career, it is always good to have your eggs in more than one basket.

I didn't want to put myself in a position where I was living so expensively that if something happened next year or two years from now and I wasn't making the same money, I couldn't afford my lifestyle.

I was lucky in that I didn't have to do too many outside-of-acting side jobs.

I refused to describe myself as an actress until 'EastEnders' because, until then, I couldn't support myself without doing other jobs.

I have to keep working because, although I have land, I'm not cash rich and don't have the wealth of high-profile actresses - don't say I'm an 'actor.' That's a bit too modern.

Let's face it, we're not about to earn our way to wealth. That's a mistake millions of Americans make. We think that if we work harder, smarter, longer, we'll achieve our financial dreams, but our paycheck alone-no matter how big-isn't the answer.

I wish I had millions in the bank; I'd never go broke. Let's get that belt and get millions in the bank.

I went to the bank and reviewed my savings, I found out I have all the money I'll ever need. If I die tomorrow.

It's important for me as an actor to be able to make a living.

Honestly, I could get in a car accident today and never play tennis again, and then I wouldn't have anything to fall back on. But fortunately enough, I do.

What this is about is hopefully an opportunity for me to help pave the way for my future in terms of getting financially choosier. You have to plan the windfall as if it'll be your only one.

I never had a checkbook. It used to be cash in hand, stuff in the pocket, or a manager would keep some accounts and give me money. I started to wonder what it must feel like to actually make a profit, pay taxes, and to have a phone listing, and a manager. And also, I was sick of sleeping around every night.

If you expect your money to take care of you, you must take care of your money.