Charlotte McKinney Quotes

I decided to take a stab at acting. I entered the American Academy of Dramatic Art, where one teacher told me I'd never make it - I was too tall.

I started modeling when I was 16. The odds were against me. At 5' 8, I was shorter than most girls in the business. Still, I gave it a shot, and like with most things in my life, I never gave up.

I started out like any other model - I didn't use my name as leverage. I went out with a portfolio and pounded the pavement and it was surprising how many people wouldn't see me because I was too short.

One thing that I had to remember in my personal journey in the music industry and coming up in the music industry was how many times I was told no. I was signed, I was dropped, I was signed, and I was put on a shelf.

I always wanted to be an actor, even when I was a little kid. When I used to run away from home, I'd go to movies and sit all night watching Kirk Douglas. When I was 16, I tried getting into the Actors Studio, and they told me to get lost. I said 'I'll come back when I'm a man,' and I came back when I was 30.

A girl who is interested in becoming a model must first accept the fact that she is the product. She must be ready to deal with a lot of rejection.

I started off as an Australian model. I had so many knockbacks, having short hair and being rejected, and I always thought: I'm never gonna get to where I want to get unless I start looking more feminine.

I had been struggling to get roles in Hollywood for three and a half years after leaving the WWE. Then I finally got an agent - the agent I have now. He's a great guy, but he turned me down three times before he even decided to take me on a as a client.

And anyway, modeling wasn't for me. I'm too short. I've got a big butt. It wasn't going to happen.

I really don't think I ever thought I could be a model. I was shorter than all of the models around and certainly rounder than anybody that I had ever seen in a magazine.

I was an outsider... but I was also sympathetic with people that were struggling to get up, because I struggled to get up.

It took a long time to get that film made. I went in for it almost right after or like maybe six or seven months after I had my son and actually auditioned for the Regina King part and they just were like, 'No, you're just - you just don't really seem the part.'

If I went by all the rejection I've had in my career, I should have given up a long time ago.

Everyone who turns up on 'X Factor' does it because a door has been closed to them at some time in their lives, and this is the only shot they have got.

I had to fight my whole life to break out of my circumstances. That's just part of my makeup.

I'm trying to work on my modelling career and remove myself from the whole FHM stigma.

And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.

It's still incredibly hard. Not just honing my craft but kicking down doors, getting my work published. Early on, I could have wallpapered my house with all the rejection letters sent my way. I put thousands of hours and pages into four novels that never saw the light of day.

It's extremely difficult and very challenging to be a woman in film and television. Just showing up in this business forces you to know yourself. But I learned how to deal with rejection and get tough when I was working as a model - it taught me how to put myself out there. In a way, my time modelling was a preparation for life.

I always wanted to be a character when I worked at Disney, but I wasn't short enough for certain characters, and I wasn't tall enough for others.

You think about the artists I look at as icons, and you assume they were instantly embraced. That's usually not the case. In reality, they had to overcome a lot of noes to get where they wanted to be.

I felt like my career started late, and I think it was because of my height - and maybe some of my confidence issues.

I've gotten rejected a lot.

I try to search for roles where the character is not dependent on how she looks, but it is hard because I didn't know anyone in this industry, so I started as an extra and fought.

Somebody once asked me, 'Melvin, how'd you get to the top?' It was simple. Nobody would let me in at the bottom.