Jeff Daniels Quotes

I moved to L.A. because I didn't want to be in New York anymore. And I knew if I wanted to act, it would have to be in one of those places.

After I do a big movie I get offered big movies. But I always do the weirdest indie.

My daughter's wanted to be an actress since she was six years old, but I didn't want her to go through the same experiences as I did as a child actor.

When New Kids became really successful, I got a lot of offers to do parts in movies and TV shows, but I was really busy, so I pretty much turned everything down. But I always knew it was something that I would eventually put some energy into.

I only made two studio movies, that was a long time ago and obviously I removed myself. I think some of that is geographical. I live in New York and I want to work there, it's as simple as that.

When I first moved to L.A. as a dancer, all I wanted to do was dance. I never even considered trying to act or direct.

When I first moved out to Los Angeles I was thinking, you know, I wanted to be an actor but I didn't really know what acting was about. I thought if I could be a model, or even do commercials and stuff like that for the rest of my life, I'd be happy.

If I was working nine to five, acting would be my hobby... I always feel like maybe I should do an Open University degree. But I'm never going to.

Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise: those guys have well-planned careers. I'm just on a journey. Wherever I run across a job, I say, 'Okay, I'll do that.'

I think I knew acting was what I wanted to do. But I was from this small town and there was no place for an adult to recognise it.

I can relax in L.A. I think I'm the only person in that town who doesn't want to act. I was an OK singer. I was an OK dancer. But acting? Never could do it.

I moved to Los Angeles when I was 17. I had just booked 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakwell.' I thought, 'Well, I'm just going to move to L.A. and become famous. 'Squeakwell' is going to launch me to that point.' Well, I didn't end up working for, like, three years afterward. That's kind of the name of the game.

I moved to L.A. right after I finished high school, for three years, because everybody was telling me it was important to get down there, and then I kind of just decided for myself that I didn't need to be there to be doing this. I wanted out of some of the chaos that comes with living here and being an actor.

And I believe that you never be limited in what you do, so I like to do movies, I like to do television.

We're not an acting family, but my parents have always encouraged me.

I went there and helped him shuffle pictures of people, and one of the agents asked me if I was interested in acting. Of course, I was a little bit interested in it; I'm sure that's part of the reason I moved to L.A. even though I never admitted it to myself.

I chose not to go home and struggle with the New York scene. My size sort of locked me out. I was too short for the stage. I would have been doing character roles, so I went to Los Angeles. There is a lot more happening out there. I also felt it was important to break away from my family.

When you choose to be an actor, you are going against the odds.

Eventually, I went to college to study psychology, but I was getting more and more TV roles, so I thought, 'You know? It's kind of like psychology, but a little more selfish.' I took a break from school, moved to L.A., and never went back.

I was in L.A., like, four months, and I got my first part. Then I was like, 'OK, I'm staying.'

I just don't consider myself to be, you know, an American actor. I don't want that life.

It just seemed like an unattainable dream to go down to Los Angeles and to land a professional working, acting gig on a show that you really love with a character you really connect with. That doesn't seem possible; that seems insane.

Even now, when people come up to me and say, 'My kid's an actor. They want to move to L.A. What should they do?' Even if you wanted to help them as much as possible, there's really nothing you can do.

I was getting a lot of pressure to go to the States, but I never really wanted to. I saw Cronenberg forge his own path, and that made me believe that I could do that, too.

I came to Los Angeles to be an actor, which is, at best, a gamble.