Jimmy Barnes Quotes

I have a great need for affection from an audience. I don't know whether this is because I had such a tough life when I was a child.

Actors in general have some place in them that can be sensitive and easily damaged: not damaged in a bad way, but insecurity, because that's what it breeds, especially in females and female-lead types.

The thing that attracted me to acting the most was I always felt quite unsure or insecure as a kid, and for some reason, when I got to perform these lines and characters, I felt safe. There was this confidence and excitement from performing that I loved.

I'd been shy since childhood, constantly full of self-doubt. And as an actor, I'd been so scared of failing that I made my career - and myself - a big joke.

I really wish I was less of a thinking man and more of a fool not afraid of rejection.

When you first are in front of the camera as a young person, you'd be surprised at all the insecurities you can get.

You have no idea how fragile an actor's self-worth is.

I was a timid little guy when I was a kid. I used humor as a defense; I became the class clown. But deep inside, I felt real vulnerable.

When you're small, you either are funny, or you get beat up a lot.

I was too shy, I think, to sing publicly. It takes a particular kind of person. And when I was young, I was not that person. In the first instance, when a record company said to me, do you want to try and make your record, my first reaction was, no, I'm not worthy - I couldn't possibly, and so on and so forth.

We all have insecurities, but some of us are better at covering them up.

I was not happy with myself as a human being when I was very young - I was afraid of people; I was afraid of talking, I didn't know how to express myself other than by being on stage.

It's taken me a long, long time to figure out how to deal with negativity, because it used to really upset me. I was always that girl that, if I was performing in the club and there was one person not paying attention or not liking me, the whole club could be packed with people loving me, but I'd be obsessed with that one person.

People who've only seen me perform might assume that I'm confident and that being ignored wouldn't bother me - but it does.

If you are insecure, then you can't be friends with anyone.

I'm still conscious of whether people really accept me, but that insecurity makes me stronger.

When I was at home, I wasn't shy. I was the clown at home, because I was loved. It was in the outside world that I was judged and I wasn't loved. That was very clear to me, that I wasn't loved. So I became very quiet. You know, those little girls you see in those pictures that look like they want to hunch, I was trying to disappear into my shoulder blades. The quietest person in the classroom, that was me. But that wasn't me at home.

I just think that beautiful people don't have it as hard, you know? They just don't know what rejection's like. That's why super models aren't good actresses, because they don't need anything. If someone is beautiful and she's needy, she's probably had a terrible childhood.

I really think insecurity is something that comes with being an actor - I don't know actors who aren't insecure. I do think I kind of lie to myself - there is a percentage of ego involved. And I don't say that's a bad thing - it's good to know that it's there whether we like it or not. But ego is like a lion that we have to keep under control.

It's the scariest thing in the world, going to acting class, because first of all, there's a lot of pressure. I just go back to being that fourth grader who couldn't, like, sit still in her seat.

They can take everything away from me, but they can never take my pride, unless I somehow get some.

I think most actors . . . We are insecure, in general. I think to be an actor, you need to have an ego, but then, our ego is our worst enemy.

I'm not hard on myself - I brush those things off - but there are days when I'm pleased with myself, and days when I think I have elf ears.

In school I was always the funny-looking, tall, skinny kid that got made fun of because of my weird teeth.

Fragile egos are put on the line every day.