Tom Waits Quotes

I'm not an actor, and I'll never call myself an actor. I've never thought of it as part of my life. I'll always be a singer, in my eyes.

I don't consider myself much of an actor. I have a face and a voice that allows me to do certain things, but there are people who are way better at it than I am.

Acting is something that I've done since I was so young. I always felt - certainly as a teenager - really cynical about acting. I definitely didn't feel like it was something I wanted to do, and so I really took it for granted.

I'm happiest when I'm acting, and I've dedicated my life to it. Still, as much as I love acting, at the end of the day, I want to be remembered as a great person, first, and as a great actor, second.

Acting is not just something I love but a part of who I am.

Look, I'm an actor, I don't profess to understand much of anything

I grew up in the theater, my mother is an actress, I was always around the world of acting and theater.

I have some friends who are actors. I've watched them work. And I would say that of all the arts, acting is the most grueling, thankless. Never apologize for your work.

Being an actor is really odd. So, don't take that as your reality - take your family, take your friends, take your relationships - that's your reality. And hang on to them.

I can't remember a time when I wasn't acting, so I can't imagine what I would do if I stopped now.

People say, "Why is it that you love to act?" And you want to say, "Well, most of acting is sitting in your trailer, either bored or worried about the scene coming up." A lot of it is about things you don't really like, so it's a wonder why acting is such a huge draw, why everyone loves it so much.

I think acting came later in life when I went to college. I started out there. I wasn't a big star in the school plays or anything. I guess I just really liked stories. I was an English-literature major, and that's all about stories and narratives. Film and theater are very powerful storytelling mediums. You sit in a dark room and enter another world. I love that as a member of the audience, and I sort of wanted to get on the other side.

Most actors are very deeply passionate about their line of work. I suppose there are probably people who sell insurance policies that are passionate about it, but I'm thinking the ratio is a little higher for actors. But, I may be wrong.

For me, honestly, I'm an actor. There's one thing I know how to do - act. And that's all I know how to do. Through our work, [actors] can trigger awareness.

I stopped acting when I was about nineteen, twenty, when I got thrown out of college. I did act for about ten years. I don't know. I suspect I'm still a reasonably good actor, but I don't really know that I want to get on the stage again ... and having to say all those boring words by me over and over again ... I don't know if I want to do that. Also, I like a certain amount of freedom of movement, and if you're acting, you're stuck in one place for a long time. Having said that, I will probably be onstage next fall.

Acting is like an addiction - once you start, you can't stop.

Actors, said Granny, witheringly. As if the world weren't full of enough history without inventing more.

I got into acting because I wanted to act and I love acting. That's my true north: to be creative and to be challenged in what I love to do.

I like to work as an actor. Not just for money, but because I really enjoy acting.

Without acting, I cannot breathe.

I like producing but acting is the quintessential me, and I'm probably better at that than I am at anything. My heart has always been in the movies.

I don't like acting and I never have liked acting and I never wanted to be an actress.

I'm practically an actor. Even when you do an interview, it's like you're performing a little bit, so yeah, I'm enjoying it, it's fun.

I think acting can be very frustrating, and there's no experience that doesn't make you a better actor. So people may choose to explore their other talents.

I don't think musicals are my thing. I'm not a big fan. Definitely have to get on the stage and do something like a straight play.