Amanda Tapping Quotes

There's two types of character actors. There's character actors who play all different characters. Or there's actors who always play the same part; they're just a bit funny-looking.

I've been very lucky with the roles that I've played in that they were wonderful roles for women. They're incredible, flawed characters that I really gravitate toward. I just never want anybody to be able to put me in a box.

I'm not a goddess, for crying out loud. I'm a regular person who took feminism - which I have a deep connection to - and mixed it with music, which I really love to do.

I was never the ingenue or the pretty girlfriend of Tom Cruise in a movie. I didn't have that career, so I don't have to compete on that level.

I've done a lot of sci-fi, so I was a little hesitant because you get pigeonholed into that genre and world. But at the same time, I love sci-fi because the women are so strong and independent and smart.

I think the roles in television are better for women right now. At this point, I don't want to continue doing the same things I've been doing in film because it's very limited.

I played a real nasty little girl but most of the roles I had up until then were very sweet and very nice.

I usually do get to play the very sweet, charming roles... but I'm not an obvious kind of villain.

I've never been like Angelina Jolie, who at one time was spewing out this prototype Bad Girl stuff for people to consume. I've never boxed myself in that way. People can create boxes for me by all means, but it doesn't mean I'm going to step inside them.

It's not like I refuse to try roles other than being a strong female boss, but I am 54, and I'm happy I'm still being sought after and that I have a career that allows me a lot of creativity.

I've been in the fortunate position of playing these strong, snarky female characters since Dana Gordon on 'Entourage.'

Sherlock' changed the perception of me. I have these cheekbones and this face that suggest very middle-class or period-drama roles. I want to show everyone there's much more to me than Irene Adler.

One woman who I think is great is Vidya Balan: her casting in 'The Dirty Picture' was very exciting. Let's break new grounds; let's think beyond the usual. Why can't a woman who plays a mother also play a lover, or why a lover can't play a villain?

Though the characters I have played are all very different, they are all strong, interesting women.

Whether or not I am a 'character actor' or any other kind of actor, I really don't know. When people call me a 'character actor,' I fail to understand what it means.

For a long time I wasn't allowed to be anything but 'The Governess' when I went on TV, even if I went on a talk show I had to be in costume. I mean guys, I own clothes!

I started to see this common theme with the songs that I was writing or co-writing, and it all had this really strong, independent point of view that I had subconsciously been craving from the music scene.

Every actor starts out saying, 'I can play anything in the world: I'm only 25, but I can be a man 70 years old. I'll put on a gray wig and do it.' But nobody hires you for that. You have to play yourself on the screen.

People assume that I'm this trashy motel girl, and that those are the only roles I can play, but I really take it seriously, and I know that I can do more.

I'd like to think that I don't have a stock character that I go to. I'm lucky in that when you get to initiate your own scene, you get to play whoever you want. That's really kind of cool, but all my characters are short. I look on the videotape, and I thought they were taller, but they're all 5'2".

I have done some serious roles earlier and there have been some brilliant comedy roles in my career as well.

It was so important that women were involved in 'She's Gotta Have It' because it's about a woman's opinion. It's about her views of herself, and the world around her, and how the world perceives her, and finding that ground for herself - not even a common ground, but that ground for herself in which she can walk on firmly with confidence.

Most of the time actresses are just left to play the actor's wife or girlfriend so there is not much to do. 'Chalo Dilli' was a refreshing change which was different and that's why I decided to work in it.

No doubt an actress has to do varied roles. But I don't want myself to be typecast as an actress who can only do off-beat ventures.

It's not fun for an actor to be pigeonholed in any way.