Joan Allen Quotes

When I was younger, I used to write to directors when I was unsure I could play a role. I'd say: 'You've made a terrible mistake.'

As a little girl, I was always shy, but in front of the camera I wasn't.

I've played so many jobs where I'm fearless, but it's far from me. I wish I were like that in real life.

Have the courage of your desire.

I'm not a natural born performer.

I remember lying in bed one night when I was 15 and deciding I was ready to go into acting properly. I'd put it off until then because I didn't feel I was ready to handle the rejections.

I've always been pretty reserved, but after taking drama classes in middle school to get more comfortable performing in front of people, I thought I should try out for television.

Whenever I get stuck on something, I'm like, 'What would I do if I wasn't afraid? What would I write if I wasn't afraid? What would I say in this situation if I wasn't afraid?'

A lot of guys... they want to take the big shot, and they talk about it because they're scared of it. You never heard me talk about it. You heard a lot of guys talk about it. But you don't have to talk about it, because if you have the confidence in yourself, and your team believes in you, you don't fear anything. You don't fear losing.

I don't think I would ever have taken on professional acting roles if I hadn't had the ability to fly. I had quite low self-esteem, and it gave me the self-confidence to believe I could do anything that I put my mind to.

I was too shy to be in films. But, my father thought it would work for me. It took a lot of time for me to think about getting into films.

It's important that you are not embarrassed when you try something new.

My advice is don't keep asking yourself if you can do something. Just get out there and do it. You can really surprise yourself.

I was terribly shy and never said anything in class. Then I started getting into school plays. When you've got words to say, you've got a sort of armour.

No one got anywhere by being too scared to open their mouth in case nobody laughed.

For many years, I didn't even like the idea of doing a one-person play. Public speaking got me past that. I've always been good at public speaking, but I never really enjoyed it. Then I started to really enjoy it, and that's made all the difference.

I missed so many opportunities along the way to do what I wanted to do because I didn't have the confidence to tell myself, much less anybody else, 'Yes, this is the business I wanted to be a part of, and not feeling that I had the talent... and letting it go all the way through Notre Dame and then through two years of Navy service.

I never had the chutzpah to just come to L.A. and make it. I didn't have that confidence. I'm always surprised when I get a job.

Even though I was very shy, I found I could get onstage if I had a new identity.

I tend to do things that I'm very frightened of. That's what I do.

When I was on the X-Factor, I found that I grew a lot as a performer. I knew I could sing but I didn't believe in myself enough... I needed to hear that I was good.

I have a lot of things to prove to myself. One is that I can live my life fearlessly.

I was extremely shy. I am still shy, but I won't show it on stage.

I debuted in Bollywood without inhibitions, and I don't want to develop any fears now. Nothing is more detrimental to an actor than the lack of total surrender.

I was a little careful when I first started off. A lot of times, for example, I thought, 'Oh, I can't pull that song off.' I should have just done it.