Mark Goddard Quotes

In the old days the studios guided your career. Now it's all up to you.

Back then, it was more or less we couldn't change a line in our script. We weren't allowed to change lines. Today, actors change everything and won't do parts. It's very different today. Back then, the producers were in charge. Today actors are more in charge.

I came of age as a male lead actor just as the TV landscape dramatically shifted.

When I did 'Ugly Betty' it was very similar to working on 'Mad Men' - great group of people in their own little world. But I don't really see a lot of difference. Of course, on the cable shows, you can tackle subjects and be more specific, because networks have to appeal to the masses, but that's constantly changing and evolving.

When you cast somebody, you write to their strengths.

I think the days of working with producers in the conventional sense are over for me.

I always used to say, as a director, that I could make anybody good in a movie if you found the right part. It all comes down to casting.

I couldn't imagine what Fox thought they were doing, contemplating such a jagged protagonist for a prime-time drama. I only knew that I wanted the role very much.

If you work with big stars, then they become the lead actors. It's not that I don't want to do films with big stars, but I would rather do the films where I get the title roles.

It's amazing that for actors mostly, it's a risk to attach yourself to a film that you don't know whether or not it's going to even be made and if you sign on, in doing so, who else is going to be in the movie with you.

TV writing is different than other mediums, involving the writer.

The television business is actually going through a tremendous transition, but I think at the end of the day, television is still paramount.

Casting is really exciting. With 'Twilight,' I wasn't involved at all with the casting in the original. They kept me in the loop, which was great. They'd be like, 'Hey Kristen Stewart's gonna do it' and I was like, 'Really? Awesome.'

The crossover wasn't happening. TV actors were TV actors, and film and stage actors were a whole different thing. And now there's just a lot of crossover.

A director should cast a person who fits into their script.

Cable TV has become where the best actors, writers and directors have gone to work because they are allowed to do character-driven stories.

I hope to continue doing TV, and I think that what I've learned on 'The Strain' will come in handy.

Actors are at the mercy of roles that are offered.

There are so few movies that still cast on chemistry. Now it's often, like, this person's movies make this amount of money, and this person's movie makes that amount of money, so let's put them together.

Who knows if I would get to do 'Mr. Robot' if I was on 'Mr. Robinson?'

I left Disney in 2000 because I thought that the process of watching TV was really going to change, and the process of creating it and the business model had to change, too.

Bill Murray, we've got to get people worthy to be on the screen with him, as opposed to just a bunch of random… with no disrespect… but a bunch of random local actors.

When I came into television, the serials were all women-centric, while the men had to stand around like furniture. I wasn't willing to be a prop in serials. To my good fortune, I got serials where I was a central character.

When I'm working in television, I've learned you've got to work fast. You don't have time to rehearse; you don't have time to just mess around. You've got to move quickly. So I pick that up from that world, and I also pick up the idea of development of character and development of situations.

I've turned down a few roles because I couldn't see myself in them.