John Sayles Quotes

I studied acting in school and then, of course, couldn't get an acting job.

It's not like you do 'SNL' and then get handed movie roles. You work, you audition for stuff and try to get it. I think, a lot of people, it's the goal to be in movies or just to be working in general. But yeah, some of us get lucky and get some movie roles, and it's nice.

It's bad enough that I'm an actress that wants to be recognized as an actress. Instead, I am known for doing game shows.

I've been very lucky. I wanted to be an actress, but I didn't really have the drive to sell myself. Fortunately I had a terrific agent in New York who kept me going from job to job.

Once you get into a part, and someone sees you, you get asked to do it again.

My father is an actor, so he brought me into his agency when I was young. It wasn't something I wanted to do until high school, when I started taking theater and really liked it. Then an agent found me and wanted me to come out to Los Angeles and give it a shot. I gave myself six months, but it only took me like a week to get a job.

What I wish more than anything is that I could start getting press about my work as an actor. That is what I do. I'm not a criminal.

You don't go to Berkeley to become an actor. In fact, I don't think you go to any school to become an actor. You've just sort of got to go out there and act.

I've wanted to do some sort of acting stuff down the line, but modeling is a good way to get comfortable in front of the camera.

You're an actor first and foremost. No one is going to hire you because you tweet a lot.

Of course I wanted an agent from the time I was like 5, but my mother was like, 'No, you're going to be normal, you're going to go to school, you're going to get good grades, you're going to play soccer, and if you do well, if you keep your grades up, you can do one community-theater show a year.'

The first acting I ever did was an Italian commercial. Once I did that, I said, 'this acting thing is awesome.'

When I left Oxford, I knew I wanted to act, but I was unsure how to go about it.

If you want to be an actor and you love acting, you can do it whether you're doing something else or not. You can be connected with community theater or make your own little movies. But if you want to be a movie star, you've got a tough road ahead of you.

I was an actor... or, at least, I was trying to be an actor.

When you're an actor, you just hope you get a job to go to.

I made the decision to take acting seriously after high school.

I grew up watching movies and television, and one day when I was really young I told my mom I wanted to become an actor, and she was really supportive and got me involved in local theater and commercials. From there I moved up to auditioning for movies and television.

I'm very serious about acting.

You can't manufacture a career as an actor because you aren't in control of what projects come to you, unless you are No. 1, two, three or four in the world.

I've been just like any other working actor, out there looking for stuff.

I hadn't really thought about doing any acting at all post-'Center Stage.'

When you start out acting, you dream of getting an agent and getting a job. For years, you audition and you get what you can. Choice isn't something that you have much of.

When I first got into acting, I never had any long-term goals, never had any plan. I just thought it would be a good way to make some extra money.

I have always wanted to be an actor. I was just five when I started acting.