Amy Ryan Quotes

As actors, you like to think about the luxury of having choices in your career, but for the most part you kind of take whatever comes your way and hope that you carved out something that you're proud of in the end.

I still do commercial work as an actor, which I love, because it's very quick, and it definitely pays my bills.

I'm lucky to just be a working actor. There are so many great actors out there and I'm just lucky to have gotten work.

You appreciate just being able to work because there are so many actors that aren't. You have to appreciate every single job just the same.

'ER' was an all-consuming universe, but I don't have a single regret. It gave me some of the greatest friendships I have and afforded me one of the rarest commodities in an actor's life, which is the financial security to pick and choose jobs for factors besides the paycheck.

I'm a practical actor and work keeps me occupied. It takes care of my bills, so there are many reasons for which I work.

I have a hard time being career-minded, but I want to be able to survive as an actor and do work that I think is important and that says something.

If you're successful, acting is about as soft a job as anybody could ever wish for. But if you're unsuccessful it's worse than having a skin disease.

We're all lucky to be working, and I'm glad to be employed.

My idea of success is not Oscars. Am I glad I have that little trinket? Yes, I am. But it depends on how you define success. The minute I got my first professional cheque from Joel Schumacher, I was successful. Somebody's paying me to act!

If you're in a film that you're proud of and you care about, then you're always happy to talk about it.

I've always been able to work as an actor and support my family and did great jobs, and more often than not, I got to turn down jobs that I didn't really want to do for various reasons or refuse to work with people I didn't like - and there are quite a few.

It's appealing to me to get to be in a commercial film without feeling like I sold out.

There's a couple of times that I did it for the... paycheck. Even when I was younger - I remember I did this movie that wasn't good, called '1969.' I totally did it 'cause I could get out of school.

Being just an actor would be quite frustrating.

I think that, as an actor, you fight so hard to get work for years that when it actually comes, you just are so grateful. I am so happy to get to do what I love.

Some of the movies I did - well, you have to feed your family.

I'll just put it this way: I've struggled enough as a working actor - and, most of the times, a not working actor - to know that anytime you are working is a blessing.

The humanities are not something that get you a pension and health insurance.

I've been very fortunate in the work I've been getting.

I've been an actor since I was 18. So that's my proper job. But I was not a very successful actor, if you consider being able to afford your rent successful. I did lots of old people's tours; reminiscence tours.

As an actor, I'm in such a privileged position because my work is job by job. If something doesn't fit in with family life, there's more flexibility.

I was very, very happy in Chicago as an actor making $168 a week.

I'm a working actor, and I want to stay a working actor, and I want everybody happy.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I know how good I have it. You can't find a much better job than this. There are only 300 players in this league, so I feel very fortunate and proud to be one of those players.