Jane Kaczmarek Quotes

Being a character actor, I can go on until I'm 70 or 80; I'm not bound to the way I look.

Character actors have a long shelf life.

What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.

This idea of the world expecting you to remain an ingenue forever - it's a very short shelf life if you're going to commit to that as your career, and I knew that early.

As actors, the great thing about our career is we get to change from role to role. I don't want to be known as "put him in the movie because he has nice abs" guy.

I always played the ugly sister instead of Cinderella or the Wicked Witch. But those are the parts I love, and actually, to be a character actress, you have more longevity, hopefully.

One thing that's happened to me is I've been around a long time and I've played a lot of villains and so forth. I think it had to do with, well one thing is that I looked younger than I was for a long time. Now I think I'm suddenly starting to play people's father.

Character roles definitely age better than your ingenues. You don't get to keep doing that.

As long as I have the talent and there's a demand for the old Chinese man - whether he's a philosopher, or a master, or an old-time restaurant owner, or a villain, or a so-called good guy - I will always be working.

I have no issue with being a character actor. If you've been around enough that people are able to segregate you into that category, it means you're working. So that's good!

I've done a lot of sci-fi, so I was a little hesitant because you get pigeonholed into that genre and world. But at the same time, I love sci-fi because the women are so strong and independent and smart.

I guess I'm lucky that I've been able to play a wide range of parts and a wide range of types of productions - I haven't felt much typecasting.

I was always a character actor, basically, that sometimes looks like a leading man.

To some degree, Hollywood doesn't know what to do with me because the characters I do are so different. But hopefully, that will give me longevity.

Ever since I started doing television, I tended to get cast, for the most part, as these strong, intelligent women... Which is wonderful, but very rarely do I get to be the goofy girl that I am.

I'm a Jack of all trades character actor, really.

I think there are probably a handful of real character actors in this business. The rest of us are recycling. So now I'm Sam Malone the editor. I'm Sam Malone the billionaire.

I'll be working the rest of my life because I'm a character actor and don't have to worry about box office.

I am a big fan of Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller, who have carved a niche for themselves. I think doing different kind of films gives you longevity and the ability to set yourself apart.

I think that at 21, I still look like I'm 17 years old, so I feel like I'm going to be playing teenagers for a while, and that's a very relatable stage in a teenage life for a female - that kind of rambunctious stage.

To me, I didn't think of acting as being a young thing only.

Old actors never die, they don't even fade away. They're always available.

I had been on four other series that never lasted more than a year and a half. I'd done fine, so you start to wonder, 'Will I ever be one of those lucky actors who get to be part of something lasting?'

When you age, you can do all kinds of roles. You don't have to look great. You can be the mom, the aunt. You can have a small part. You're an actor.

It's not like I refuse to try roles other than being a strong female boss, but I am 54, and I'm happy I'm still being sought after and that I have a career that allows me a lot of creativity.