Ken Leung Quotes

Most of the early part of an actor's career, you do the jobs you get.

I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in their professional and chronological lives.

Sometimes when you're starting out with acting, you have to take what you can get to get experience and meet people.

The 12 years that I was improvising are why I got the number of commercials I got when I was in New York and why I got 'The Devil Wears Prada,' and it's why I even got in the door for 'Mad Men.'

So most of my acting experience came in college when I was living away from them. I acted in various independent films, and I got some commercial work and stuff like that.

I've been fortunate with my acting career. A lot of scripts come to me. I don't mind auditioning if something that requires that, but I haven't had to in awhile, which is a nice place to be 'cause I've been on quite a lot of auditions in my life.

I'm used to working really hard to get a role. I was always auditioning and talking my way into roles.

When I started as an actor, I kind of started with a couple features. I've been waiting for the opening.

Basically, one of the hardest things about being an actor is getting your first break. I'm a product of nepotism. The doors were open to me. I'd done several movies before I decided what I wanted to do.

'Cuckoo's Nest' was my first film, and I had wanted to do film for some time, but somehow I had not clicked. I would go in for interviews or readings, and I never had the sense that I was anywhere near what they were looking for.

I'm always in the market for my acting.

I've been auditioning since I was 20, working as a waiter, getting theater gigs, doing the 'Law and Order's.

When you start as an actor, you can only hope you'll be able to act at all - let alone on a show that lasts seven seasons.

When I first started auditioning, I was so, dare I say, desperate and hungry for a job that I pretty much went out for anything my agents sent me with a few exceptions.

I've been acting for 15 years now, and the more you do, the more confidence you get about 'this is my career, and this is what I'm going to be doing.' Since I've started coming to the States, I've had a really great response. It's given me a lot of confidence to be more judicious about my own choices.

As an actor, I want to build a career as an actor. It's hard to even get a job sometimes, so as my career builds, I can be more picky than I used to be.

When you're starting out, every line in a show or a commercial is like a huge success.

The first part of my career, how I was paying the bills was commercials. I was just doing tons of commercials.

'Angus' was my first real film, but I had been acting for about 3 threes before that as well.

I took acting classes in college, and once I graduated, I decided to give acting a shot when I couldn't really think of anything else to do. It took me a couple of years to get an agent, and my first big break was The Fanelli Boys, which was a sitcom on NBC. Then I did a few television movies.

I kind of started 'Game of Thrones' as a really young actor and not a lot on my CV.

I actually love auditioning because I usually don't get the part. I've tested with Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Tom Cruise. So I've gotten to that point, and I understand when I don't get it. There are a lot of very talented people out there.

I didn't even want to start acting when I started. At least, I never thought about it.

Since it was too difficult to get into the Screen Actor's Guild in New York, I moved to Miami in 1982 and started a successful career as a television commercial actress, obtaining my SAG card there.

As an actor, it's much easier for me to get work in the movies because nobody knows who I am except for the work that I've done in another movie. I really enjoy that.