Joan Leslie Quotes

I have turned down playing the most despicable people on Earth. I turn it down all the time.

Good characters are rare. As long as I find one or two a year, I'm happy.

I think at this point in my life, I'd like to play more good guys than bad guys.

I hope it's not all I'll ever do, but I know I've played enigmatic characters. For me, the good characters are people who get places, are devious, are cunning and tricky and hard to pin down. Obviously, if you play one and you do an okay job of it, that'll be on people's minds.

I'm not particularly fond of playing villains. I do want to be a working actor, and I've had to look at what was offered to me, what roles I could get, and what I could do with them. Even though I'm not drawn to putting those kinds of darker characters out there, I think it's an interesting challenge.

Most of my career I purposely spent doing good guys.

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

I'm hoping I can evade a type and go for roles based on what I consider plausible and what I consider good.

It's also a question of finding good material and interesting roles. I'm not the only actress out there, and good parts just don't fall into your lap that easily. But I like most of the films I've made recently and so I'm pretty positive about the future.

I would like to do more dramas when I find a good role that will allow me to politely upset people's expectations of me as a comic actor.

Well, usually when I finish one character, I'm looking for a role that's really different.

Because of fear, and the way my career went, I started playing a lot of villainous roles.

For whatever reason I tend to get roles that are more damaged.

Well, I think certain roles are chosen for us. The moment I read Pete Campbell I thought: I can do this, this is mine. And in Money, too. The truth is I turn down a lot of projects. If a character doesn't have some kind of internal struggle, it's no good for me.

I would love to do anything involving a good strong character, whether it's in film, TV or theatre. My dream role's already been taken by Keira Knightley in 'Pride and Prejudice.' Growing up, I really wanted to be Lizzie Bennett.

If you think you don't want to play another psychopath, but the script is amazing, and the director is fantastic, and the story is incredible, then you may end up playing your third psychopath in a row.

I'm a good guy. I love playing bad guys, but good guys that have a good thing going on, I like that, too. I don't like passive good guys.

I love to star in movies, but I want to have good roles. It doesn't help to get starring roles in something that's no good. I mean, that will just kill you.

Normally I play dads, good guys, and little animals.

Yes, I play this evil, mean character Victoria in 'Baywatch.' It is so much fun. I didn't want my first film in America to be just another role.

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?'

People always ask me, 'Why so many historical dramas?' Because those are the best roles I get to play, and I get to play heroes in those roles.

My agent knows what I'm looking for. And I'm also looking for a new agent, too, so I'm putting it out there. Again, I'm not going to turn down every role, because there is no bad role, really. It's all what you bring to the role, but that traditional, 'Stand here and open a rope,' I'm not doing it.

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.

My first five or six years in L.A., I was just trying to get two cents together to stay here. Playing Jason Stackhouse on 'True Blood' put me in a position, financially, to make decisions based on creativity, to choose roles based on whether I connected with them. I love the Jason Stackhouse character... But I also love stepping out of his shoes.