Tim DeKay Quotes

I want to pay my mortgage and go on vacation, so I love working. I want to be able to do independent projects as well, and being on a successful TV show allows you to do some other things.

I think, you know, when you're an actor who's had periods of unemployment, it makes you feel really good to have a job - to say that you're expected somewhere, do you know what I mean?

I don't just act to pay my rent. I really like doing it, so I get frustrated when I don't get to do it all the time, so short films are a really great way to be doing it and working with your friends, working on smaller, more specific things without limiting yourself in other ways.

It's not about my career now. It's just about finding great work and having a good time.

What career? A man's got a body of film of about four movies in about 10 years or something. I do it because I think I can do a good job of something and I'll enjoy it, do it, and sort of vanish. I don't want to be an actor for hire.

The great thing about being on a television show is that it usually provides you with fairly steady income so you can go and do things.

I have a teaching job that allows me to pay the rent and affords me to, frankly, write the books I want to write.

There are 365 days in the year, and as a working actor, you might only work 17 of them. You might only need to do two ads and you can afford to live for the year, but it doesn't make for a very satisfactory or fulfilling life. The point isn't to not work - it's to work.

I want to pick good projects, I want to work with great directors and try not to put too much pressure on myself and just read things for the story and recognize when I'm drawn to something for the right reasons and try to maintain some sanity. Sanity would be good. I'd like to have a little sanity!

A good career is a long-lasting career. When you're there in every competition doing a good job you're a part of an elite, and that's the most important thing.

I certainly feel fortunate in my career to have been able to continue to work in different mediums. I don't ever want to be the guy who gets really good at one thing and just does that over and over and over again.

I had a huge advantage when I started 50 years ago - my job was secure. I didn't have to promote myself. These days there's far more pressure to make a mark, so the temptation is to make adventure television or personality shows. I hope the more didactic approach won't be lost.

My career has been very strange. My career is like a heart monitor. I get involved in a good project now and then to keep things going. And then I make things that I work on that I hope are going to be good so I can make a living and keep a roof over the heads of those little monsters I have in my house.

As an actor, you're always worried about getting stuck on a show that's not good because working actors need the paycheck. So being cast on a regular procedural, where everything gets wrapped up by the end of the episode, was always a fear of mine because that doesn't really test you as an actor.

I was able to go on stage and work until it felt right or felt good. It meant that I very quickly realised that it was the job for me.

I've finally reached a stage in my career where I can do what I want.

Don't be afraid to take time to learn. It's good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.

My goal has always been longevity. Not fame and fortune, just get a job and keep it.

Computer programming is pretty much guaranteed income. I'm good at it, and I like it.

I don't believe in careers. I believe in work. I'm not interested in some 'big picture that would be really good for me'.

I love doing TV. It's so great for my world as a mom, as someone who likes to have a steady job and go to work feeling secure because I'm with a family.

The idea of having a steady job is appealing.

Every actor fears unemployment - even me.

I've been lucky. I've never really had a job that I did that I didn't like.

I think it's an actor's job, if you can, to keep working and to keep using that muscle. First of all, you've got to pay the bills, but it also helps you develop.