Hugh Laurie Quotes

I've had projects before where everyone says 'This is going to be the big thing,' and it doesn't really turn out to be. Then there is a little project you do and forget about, and then it comes out, and it's huge.

For me, the biggest successes I've ever had were the ones I never counted on. I never thought my first big record would be a hit. I thought it was an average song.

No one was more surprised than me by the success of the first series of 'Line of Duty.'

As usual, my timing is bizarrely good.

I am a rare occasion. I think if everyone had known it was going be me who succeeded, they would have supported me a lot more. They would have known what to do with me a lot earlier. They just didn't know.

We knew all along we were making a good show, so its success was not a surprise to me. What has surprised me is the magnitude of this show's success. More people see me now in one episode than saw me in 20 years of movies and theater!

To be honest I never thought the acting thing would get off the ground.

I'd visually have that idea. I'm diving off the end of the diving board. I'm not going to be worried about if I'm going to dive into a jellyfish or the water's going to be too cold or the boys are going to beat me. I'm just doing it. And if I do it, it's a good chance I'll make it.

Sometimes success comes in ways you don't expect.

Every time you wanted to do something, you'd hope it would score. You'd keep trying and trying, and all of the sudden, something would come right out of left field, like 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.' No one had any idea about that one.

I've been involved in some movies that I really thought were going to take off that didn't. And then I've thought, 'This movie's not going anywhere,' and it worked. The same thing with television shows.

It was something I never expected to - I never expected the book would sell in the first place. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers.

What's great about the way 'Shame''s been received is that I kept on thinking there's no way this film will be received well since I've had such a good time.

I never - in my dreams, doing track in high school, I didn't imagine it would turn out like this.

I like being the underdog so they don't expect what's going to happen. It pushes me to work harder and do the things I'm not doing better.

The movie 'Scandal Makers' did so much better than I had thought. During that phase of my career, the people around me warned me that whatever goes up could always come back down.

An actor is always looking for something. When your luck improves, trends change, you get one of those roles that do very well, sometimes even your worst work becomes a super success. So one can never predict what will happen tomorrow.

We never could have foreseen the success of 'Babel.' It's not like banjo records were soaring up the charts, you know.

The music I was making for people not to dance to was the one they were dancing to.

No matter how tough my life was, I was always looking up at the sky and wishing for good things.

There is something to be said about making a big play at any time.

There's been so many stories throughout the league where teams have started off poorly and ended up in the Finals. Or teams starting out great and not making the playoffs.

I'd rather go down with an almighty bang than play it safe.

It's important to take leaps of faith.

When you're taking chances, you know it's not going to please everybody.