Barbara Billingsley Quotes

It's really important to draw the line on what we do as actors.

When actors get pigeonholed, that's their own doing to a large degree. Because if you do something that people like, obviously they're going to ask you to do it again. It's up to you to say no. If you're that insecure about working, you'll probably do what you're known to do.

I think you get the parts that people are comfortable with seeing you play.

People like to see certain actors do certain things, and people like to see me play that role. I also have no interest in playing a normal girl in a romantic comedy in some cutesy thing.

After 'Crocodile Dundee,' I turned down lots of stuff, most of it where I'd play the girlfriend of some funny man.

Now I don't want to feel cornered as an actor, because I've got a wider range than that.

To be completely honest, it's shocking to me that I keep getting the villain roles! I do not see myself as the villain and I know, growing up, I was the opposite of a villain. I would never try to be a villain to anyone - but maybe other people I grew up with feel differently about that.

My career plan at this point is 'Ice Age 5' through '10,' and even '12,' and 'Spider Man' - you know, basically I'd be Emma Stone's dad for the rest of my career. I really don't have any problem doing that.

In my career, there have been roles I haven't taken because someone involved with the project gave me a bad vibe. I don't care how much money is on the table: No job is worth feeling uneasy every day.

I would do 'Superbad,' and the next offers you would get would all be crazy cop characters or crazy security guards or something.

Once you do one bad guy, usually all you get offered is bad guys. But I've been able to do different things.

Sitcoms are incredibly limiting. When you do a sitcom and it becomes a signature part for you, it's harder to do something else; but if you do a drama, you can get lost in it and have a role to do other things.

I took the role of Rochelle in 'Everybody Hates Chris,' and that was it. I was going to play mother roles all the time. Once you do one mother role, it's always a trickle down effect.

I acted professionally for about eight years, and I was writing all that time but never showed anybody any of it. There just came a point after those eight years when I thought, 'There's a lot I can do with acting - there are a lot of things I can express and do creatively, but there are also limitations.'

After 'Mad Men,' I got offered various types of uptight Englishmen, which I wasn't interested in doing. I didn't want to repeat myself.

I would get scripts about 'a young swinging bachelor on the make,' and I said, 'No, I've done that.'

I feel like I've done Pete Hornberger, and that is a painting I have signed, and I don't need to play that character anymore. So I'll get offers for panicky, pathetic guys, and while it's a great compliment to get them, I feel like I don't need to play that again.

Initially after 'Sherlock,' I got offered a lot of swinger movies. There is that thing of keeping your mystique and not taking your clothes off in every job.

I get sent a lot of scripts where you're just the mom.

I think, like every actor, you've just to pick what you're interested in.

Even when I was starting out, I knew there were certain things that I didn't want to do or wanted to do.

I stay out of typecasting ruts.

Coming off 'House of Cards,' playing someone so straight-laced, I was getting offered a lot of F.B.I. agents.

People approach you for the work they have seen you do. I don't think people see me as a lover boy dancing around, so I haven't received a role of that kind. I'm going to do roles that appeal to me.

I've always tried to stay away from playing Jews. I get like 20 Holocaust scripts a month, but I hate the genre.