Sanaa Lathan Quotes

I had a very hard time accepting myself as a character actress because I wanted to be glamorous and a leading lady like everybody else. I looked in the mirror and thought I looked pretty good, but casting didn't ever see me that way.

Unless you burst into movies as a sex goddess, you're likely to play wives and mothers. I came into movies as a teenager in 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They' (1969) playing a pregnant waif from the Ozarks. I didn't get a chance to burst into movies in 'Body Heat.' My career isn't based on having a 23-inch waist and a big bust, though I do.

It took a long time for me to have any impact in the business because I didn't look like an actor, I didn't sound like an actor.

The 'boy next door' parts I get offered, I don't find interesting.

I was very skinny, braces; so I never thought I would be a model.

The girl-next-door image is a sort of joke; for years, I couldn't get any roles other than as somebody dark.

If you're the handsome white guy, you tend to get cast as guys who are meant to be convincing in their jobs. What I've been fortunate enough to do, whether it's playing a certified idiot on '30 Rock' or a weirdo in 'Bridesmaids,' is play against that in a lot of ways.

People assume that I'm this trashy motel girl, and that those are the only roles I can play, but I really take it seriously, and I know that I can do more.

I remember one director in Argentina said to me, 'You are not going to have any opportunity to be a leading lady because of your height.' And I didn't care. I don't have a complex.

I was the kind nobody thought could make it. I had a funny Boston accent. I couldn't pronounce my R's. I wasn't a beauty.

I'm trying to fight typecasting as hard as I can, while I have time.

I give two hoots about being typecast. It's not in my hands.

I was never the ingenue or the pretty girlfriend of Tom Cruise in a movie. I didn't have that career, so I don't have to compete on that level.

It delights me that I don't fit the stereotype of an actress.

I don't want to be the stupid blond. I want to be an actor.

I hope I will not be typecast as a Bond girl for the rest of my life. I'm very proud of being a part of the Bond family, but I don't want to be the sexy girl forever. I'm not meaning to complain, but I just want to be taken seriously.

Because I'm not perfect looking, I get to play better roles.

As Latinas, we tend to be overly partial considering stereotypes. I'm interested in being naughty and edgy.

Of course, I would like to play the guy next door, but nobody's going to hire me for that kind of role.

I was happy she got it and I have to sort of - and one of the reasons I did Third Watch is because I wanted to break that thing of just being the pretty girl and play it down and let it be about the work.

So if I get pegged as a bikini girl, that's fine, and that can still translate into acting or other areas. But, no, I don't wanna be doing bikini shoots my whole life.

I'm a character actor, but I look like a leading man.

'Night of the Comet' established me as a strong woman. And let's face it, this business is very surface and one dimensional - so it's easy to get typecast.

Sometimes I've felt that the industry has typecast me as a certain kind of character. But then I think all it really takes is one role, the right role, to shake that up and change that perception.

I think the reason they cast me as the good girls is because they couldn't find any in Hollywood.