Taapsee Pannu Quotes

I'm not a conventional leading man at all and have no wish to be.

Hollywood always wanted me to be pretty, but I fought for realism.

It's been difficult to find roles that are independent, strong, and self-assured; I always say I can't play the princess. I'm not a pretty princess! I'm a tomboy.

The girl-next-door image is a sort of joke; for years, I couldn't get any roles other than as somebody dark.

I've always been so uninterested in playing any kind of archetype of some pure, innocent, virginal woman. I just don't believe it.

I think my whole generation's mission is to kill the cliche.

I do try and stay away from the stereotype and getting typecast.

I am an actor who turned hero at age 32, after many years of struggle. I wanted to break the stereotype that only good-looking men with a good complexion, height and physique can be heroes, which I have managed to do.

I always get offered the pretty, popular girl roles, but I want to do something dark, really challenge myself and get out of my comfort level.

I think I'm a character actress in a leading lady's body, but the industry doesn't really see me that way.

I got so far away from what they told you in acting class: Do something different. Producers kept offering me the 'Sister Act' movie, but I said, 'My fans don't want to see me in a wimple.' I literally said, 'My fans don't want to see me in a wimple.'

Hollywood typecast me as the secretary. I could have worked as the quirky secretary for the rest of my life, but I decided not to do that.

I couldn't get any of the ingenue roles when younger because at 5 feet 9 inches with a deep voice I was always too... genue. My career has completely happened since I was 29.

In the 1980s, there was no category to stick me in. 'He sounds too smart' is what I was hearing. I realized that I had to become a member of the school of what I call 'ugly acting.' Which meant I wanted to do what Dustin Hoffman did very successfully: to play character roles, but lead character roles.

I went to grad school because I wanted to learn the rules so I would know how to break them. Breaking the rules is saying, 'I'm breaking in, OK? I'm breaking in your very comfortable little house over here, and I'm going to take a room.'

People don't expect me to make pop music.

I'm glad I've established this as my zone: 'the taboo breaker.'

For a woman who didn't want to be an actress, who is too tall, lanky, shy, and who didn't fit into a Hindi conventional heroine, I am overwhelmed that my audiences have accepted me in India and the world.

I was determined not to be typecast.

I'm a bookworm. I know with my physical appearance that I don't look like the typical reader. I'm in Barnes & Noble all the time, and you can look at people that look like they are supposed to be in there. I am in there, pants sagging, hat backwards.

When I started out, the idea of wearing interesting clothes seemed to contradict the idea of being a serious artist. The first Moloko record, 'Do You Like My Tight Sweater?' was kind of a reaction to all that.

My philosophy through all my work, be it on canvas or on the street, is about pushing boundaries and not going with the flow because everyone else is doing something a certain way.

I was doing well for myself and wanted to play different roles and not just be happy portraying glamorous characters.

I like to keep breaking the typecast and cliches.

I decided that I would defy expectations, be it those put on me by society, race, socioeconomic status, or my father.