Lily James Quotes

I'm forever being told that I'm an odd-looking actress, so it's great playing parts where there's no vanity. You just look as rough as you possibly can!

I was unusual looking - I didn't have the look of that time. If you look at 'Lucas' - and, basically, my first five or six movies - the characters are not described in the scripts as attractive people.

In the Indian film industry, especially those of us who are in mainstream cinema, we invariably play a typical hero's role. More often than not, we cater to the public perception. However, there is a latent desire in most actors to do a role where you can go all out and experiment.

I always play girls who are quite traumatised, or a plain girl, but I'm happy with that.

I feel I should never do passive characters. They don't work for me.

Every once in awhile I like to play dark ladies, crazy ladies, but most often I look for characters that are strong, intelligent, caring - usually earth women, because that's basically how I see myself.

I'm drawn to roles that have real substance, that aren't just the victim or the teenage girl or the girlfriend.

You won't ever see me being totally sexy on 'Rookie Blue.' It's not right for the character, anyway.

There's no particular role that comes to mind that I'd like to take on, but for me, it's about playing interesting characters and not just two-dimensional ones.

I want to play characters that are interesting to watch.

I don't pick my roles based on what clothes I have to wear. I pick roles because of the character I have to portray, and the public have enjoyed seeing me in those roles.

It'll be interesting to see if I ever have to play a typical, bland romantic interest. I'm quirky, and playing it kind of straight and bland doesn't interest me a whole lot.

I'd been trying for a while to get parts that weren't just the English bad guy, so it was quite refreshing to be playing someone who was a compassionate, decent guy.

I knew I would never be cast as the pretty girl.

I like to play unattractive people who think they're pretty. You can do what you want, but I prefer to look interesting.

It's quite hard to find a ballsy or complex character. So the roles I've taken are those. Lot's of people put me in the dark category.

Actors like to play bad guys because they're more fun. They also win more awards.

I try to shy away from playing cranky people, but if it's just a funny next-door neighbor or business man, I'll say, 'Sure, why not?'

Some are in it for the money, which is fine. Some of them are in it to be a movie star; that's another reason. Some actors - and this I never understand - will only play likeable characters. And if they're not likeable, they change them to be heroic.

I don't like to do what I call 'the grunters' - a character who sits at a table and grunts and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down.

My family was always wondering why I ended up playing people who were mentally ill, insane, downtrodden, and a little crazy. I think what they don't understand is that most female parts are written basically as hysterical women.

These people I play are not usually wish-fulfillment characters.

My initial attraction to 'Red Tails' was the opportunity to play a character that was not me. 'Stomp the Yard' was a great film, but I played myself there.

People always say, 'Oh, you've played a lot of waifs... ' but they were just girls. It's just that a lot of those everyday characters had never been on the screen before. I do hope I didn't get typed. I feel myself that I tried to do different things with those women.

I play characters that allow me to do lot more than just be a glamorous heroine.