Michael Douglas Quotes

I knew that I needed to do something that I desperately loved. There was a period where I did question if it was acting because I knew that I would be making things hard on myself. I knew that there was going to be a little bit of a hullabaloo because of my dad being who he is and all that.

I didn't think I was an actor and fought it for a long time. Nobody paid for that but me.

I thought people would think I only wanted to be an actor because my dad was, rather than because I had an innate calling.

When I first started acting, I was genuinely questioning whether or not I should be doing this.

Even if I aspired to be in showbiz, I felt physically inadequate being compared to my parents.

Even when I was doing well in acting, my dad would say, 'You can still go back to dental school.' But since I've been on '90210,' I haven't heard that.

I didn't think I was going to be an actress. Everybody in my family was in films, and they succeeded so much, I thought, 'It's better for me to do something else,' and they agreed.

There were times when I wondered if I was doing the right thing, studying when I could have been going to auditions.

I decided to give acting a serious, committed try, and soon after, I read the script for 'Lovely and Amazing.' The story was beautiful and honest, and the characters struggled with the same insecurities many women - including me - face. I didn't think I had a chance in hell of being in the film, but I knew I had to go for it.

I hated singing. I wanted to be an actress. But I don't think I'd have made it any other way.

My plan was never to be an actor like my father.

Well, acting was just in me and I tried to avoid it. I didn't want to do what my parents did, you know?

I was always told that music isn't a 'realistic' path to take, and like a normal human being, I doubted myself over and over because I was afraid of failure.

I had wanted to act since I was a kid, but I had a lot of shame attached to it. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't think it was ever a possibility.

I don't want to achieve less than my mum and dad.

I never really committed to being an actor. It never felt like it would be possible, I guess.

I was afraid that if I said, 'Yes, I'm an actor,' what would happen if I was bad at it?

My mom being raised in England, her father always wanted to pursue the arts and wanted to have a stage career in England. According to her, he never had the courage to actually pursue it full-time. I think that my grandfather's parents thought that it wasn't a formidable job to have.

I was shying away from acting for the longest time - because of having such big shoes to fill.

I don't even want to think of myself as an actor because it's such an insecure place to go.

I'd been shy since childhood, constantly full of self-doubt. And as an actor, I'd been so scared of failing that I made my career - and myself - a big joke.

I told everyone that acting's for losers and I needed to get an education. But something kept telling me to give it one last chance. In the end, I lasted a month on the M.B.A. and then decided to quit, come back to L.A., and try again.

I didn't have the confidence to leave the band because of a solo career, or anything like that. I just wanted to grow.

Actually, I started to become an actress because I met someone who was just a friend and I found his life wonderful, I thought, Oh my god, you can travel, you're free, you can do what you want, you're the boss. And then I met an actor and I was in love with him.

I ask myself a lot of question about my work as an actress. We shall see. Plenty of friends tell me, 'Of course you must continue acting,' but I'm not sure.