Olly Alexander Quotes

So the only things I was being allowed to audition for were small roles in comedies. It broke my heart. No one would see me for anything else. I knew, in order to open up my career, I had to leave or that's all I would ever be given.

For years, they cast me in these dumb straight roles of businessmen in three-piece suits.

I don't want to play the fat guy or the friend for the rest of my life.

After The Wizard Of Oz I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions.

I was not only typecast as a Russian, but I was typecast as Yakov Smirnoff. This is understandable, and I was very happy to get the roles, but it would be nice to be in a movie where I could be someone else.

That was my one big Hollywood hit, but, in a way, it hurt my picture career. After that, I was typecast as a lion, and there just weren't many parts for lions.

I've played a lot of bad guys, 'cause that was the only work I could get. People saw my face and went 'oooh'.

If you're a sexy actress, it's hard to get serious roles. You get offered the same thing they've seen you in. People are like sheep, and they're like, 'Oh, that's what she does well.'

The studios always had their idea of what I was, and they'd give me the dumb-blonde roles.

For a while, I thought that I was only going to be cast in Second World War films.

I hated being typecast in those roles. It was personally limiting, only playing stereotyped heavies. But I got those roles because I was angry, because that's what I projected. I was angry at my mother and father because they didn't get along, angry at the church. On top of that, I had an extreme lack of self-confidence.

I don't subscribe to the thinking that being typecast is a bad thing.

When I joined Bollywood, I too wanted decent and challenging roles but there were no offers. Directors and producers look at me as a woman who is willing to expose and that is the only reason they want to sign me.

I think you're stereotyped after every film. Post 'Dev D,' I was only offered bold roles. Similarly, after 'Margarita With A Straw,' I was offered roles where I had to play differently-abled people. So, no matter what type of film you work in, people tend to slot you.

Actors are like Swiss Army knives - we're ready to use any lever at any moment. But I learned long ago that, unfortunately, this industry only sees the one thing sticking out that they know us from, and that's the only thing they can imagine.

If I were to limit myself to the opportunities that were presented playing only Chinese-American parts, I would be virtually without a career.

I get a lot of single mum roles - 'It's a Free World' turned out well, so people thought, 'She can be a single mum, Kierston can do that. Or live in a council house - she can do that.'

I got pigeonholed a bit. When I wanted to be an actress, I never wanted to be the kind of actress I became.

If you're going to be born ugly and be an actor - the least they can do is let you play Lincoln.

I can't get the serious roles. People don't see me that way.

There will always be times where you think, 'What went wrong? Why wasn't that one more popular?' You can't always figure that out, especially if you think you've done the best job you can do and was interesting to you. I mean, 'My Soul to Take,' I thought should have done much better, and I still like that film a lot.

A lot of times, I'll get roles where it's the dumb blonde or the cheerleader, and I just have no interest - and it can be a great movie, it really can - or the mean girl; those things don't intrigue me much.

There are worse things than getting pigeonholed in Hollywood.

I couldn't get roles as bad guys. They could see John Travolta as a gangster but not me, really. But, you know, that's just how things are.

My big thing is that I always get typecast.