Louis Theroux Quotes

Dick Wolf was my first boss after coming out of Sarah Lawrence.

I really have no plans for any kind of career in TV or anything, but if I wanted to become good at it, I could. But I don't really think it's in the cards.

That was the day I began cutting classes and returning to TV tapings; it ultimately led to a friendship with Johnny O, and an increasing fascination and respect for what he did.

My career is not well thought out. Every choice has been instinctive and, quite literally, impulsive in many ways.

It wasn't conscious, but I'm glad I've had a slow and steady career path. I wanted to develop my style, and I wanted to be the one making the decisions. Sometimes, when you become a success quickly, those decisions are out of your control.

I love things that have one foot in history - I was going to be a history professor before I sold out and went into TV.

The 'Road Rules' thing was just something that happened. It was never like when I was little I said, 'I want to be on a reality show when I grow up.' They didn't even have them then, you know?

I love TV and I think it would be cool to be a host one day.

I've now done virtually everything there is to do in TV presenting: I've done sport shows, comedy shows, and I'm now doing music, which is great for me.

My career wasn't planned, never had any targets. I just go by my instincts, and I think I am doing good work.

I'd always wanted to work in television once I found out that they started to hire independent filmmakers to direct.

Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing.

After that demonstration everybody was thinking, what's going to happen to these wonderful men who have been so useful to us? We have to give people something to do with life.

I never had a real job. I started acting in high school, and then I started working. So, I never got to have that experience.

Right when I started getting solid was when I was offered a lot of writing work. And when The Ben Stiller Show was picked up, I realized there was no way for me to do stand-up three or four nights a week and run this television show with Ben. So that was the moment when I had to make a choice.

I really don't think about my career, in terms of planning it out and what any role does for me.

My awesome career has been nothing but chaos. Whatever comes toward me feels like the right thing to do in the moment and that's great.

I didn't want to do television at all. I really didn't want to do it. I really thought I was just going to be doing theater and doing movies.

It hasn't yet materialized that I went into sports management, but I haven't ruled it out yet, either. I only half-jokingly remarked that I'd love to be the commissioner of the NFL. But as I recently told current Commissioner Roger Goodell, that job looked a lot more appealing when I was struggling with the Russians and the Iranians everyday.

I did an after-school special as my first big thing. It was starring Butterfly McQueen. She was the name. But the real star of it was Robbie Rist, who was that little blond kid who looked like John Denver.

I worked for dad on the grounds and I was in high school and I said I wanted to go to college, and he said, well, you figure it out. He said I will pay for your college but you're going to go to St. Vincent. St. Vincent College right here. That's about as much as I can afford, you work here, right here at home. I said, what if I can get somewhere else? And he said if I can get there, that's your call.

I think all of this—The Roots and DJing included—was meant to prepare me for The Tonight Show.

Life is about making tough choices. Sometimes you have to go where your career is going.

Any planning that I have in my career is totally accidental really.

My idea of that[idea of career] is constantly changing. I mostly just throw it out to the universe and I can't really do much after that. I've never taken the steps to be "successful": I've never had a manager or signed to a publishing house. I've talked to people about it but I've never followed through because it gives me the creeps.