Jacki Weaver Quotes

It's not so much that I'd like to play a raunchy character, but I would like to play someone my own age. I'm always playing down, but I guess it's good because it means I've got a longer life in my acting career.

My career seems to have worked out OK, especially since I turned 40. I've always had a character part, mind you - I've never played the princess. But if you're used to doing that, it must be soul-destroying to hit 40 and suddenly find there's nothing for you to do.

When you age, you can do all kinds of roles. You don't have to look great. You can be the mom, the aunt. You can have a small part. You're an actor.

I always played the ugly sister instead of Cinderella or the Wicked Witch. But those are the parts I love, and actually, to be a character actress, you have more longevity, hopefully.

I have very young looks, so it's easy for me to play high school, but I'm trying to stay away from high-school movies. As I get older, I'll try and broaden my talents.

I'm looking forward to playing the meatier roles you get in your 30s. The early 20s can be a hard time for an actress - it's always bombshell or romantic lead. The good stuff you can really sink your teeth into comes later.

This idea of the world expecting you to remain an ingenue forever - it's a very short shelf life if you're going to commit to that as your career, and I knew that early.

I don't mind playing older characters. I find it interesting. There are parts I couldn't have got when I was 30 years old. So, it continues to interest me in the same way that it always did.

I think in the acting world you either manage that transition to older roles, or you stick with what you've always done and then discover nobody can bear you doing it as an older person.

One thing that's happened to me is I've been around a long time and I've played a lot of villains and so forth. I think it had to do with, well one thing is that I looked younger than I was for a long time. Now I think I'm suddenly starting to play people's father.

I was always a character actress, even when I was an ingenue. But as you age, people know what to do with you, and you're not quite as dependent on maintaining leading-lady beauty.

Movie acting is a great job for your twenties: You travel all over, you have affairs with people, and you throw yourself into one part and then another. It gets more challenging as you get older, and it's not just having a daughter, it's wanting to have your own life and be yourself.

Character roles definitely age better than your ingenues. You don't get to keep doing that.

I've played a lot of younger, more coming-of-age roles as well as roles that aren't such an imposing physical presence.

As you get older, you're doing different parts, but the young people, like yourself, they keep you excited, because they'll see Waterfront, and they'll want to talk about it.

For me, as an actor, just to keep acting and to keep being able to work and to do different roles and challenging roles, that's something I'd love to do.

I keep getting cast as this bad guy, and I don't know why.

I'd like to play characters who are older - I don't want to be playing 14-year-olds too much longer.

I have been really lucky to play roles younger than myself for most of my career.

It's not like I refuse to try roles other than being a strong female boss, but I am 54, and I'm happy I'm still being sought after and that I have a career that allows me a lot of creativity.

I thought, 'Oh, acting is going to be great - I get to play different parts.' And then these auditions started coming up for terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, and I'm going, 'Whoa, what's this about?'

I think when an actress is good, roles in mid-forties is a great thing.

The great thing about getting older and doing TV and theatre is that the roles get more interesting, and you're not cast because, 'Oh, she's always looked extraordinary.'

I sort of went 'Oh, great. I'm getting these great roles and I love doing them, but I'm going to be Anthony Perkins for the rest of my life.'

I think the parts I was offered when I was younger, where I was asked to play that kind of slacker person, that was just because people would go, "Oh, she has dyed black hair." I guess that's how they thought I looked. I played a couple of those roles, and then unfortunately you get pigeonholed really fast, and then you just keep getting asked to do that. And now it would be weird at the age of 46 for me to play a slacker. It would look like I was nuts.