Anthony Michael Hall Quotes

Not to sound too pessimistic, but I just don't see me having the film career that I maybe hoped for after 'The Birdcage.' I think people just didn't know what to do with me.

Of course it was difficult accepting the change in TV trends. It all ended quite early for me. I was in my mid-30s, and I hadn't achieved everything I wanted. There's nothing on TV for people like me anymore. All they want are new young faces.

I was Pee-wee Herman for so many years that it wasn't really a question that I didn't want to do other things.

After Star Trek, I was with the top agencies, but producers and directors did not know what to do with me.

I had a different agent after 'Hook,' and they were, like, 'We don't know where to go with you. It's like you've already gone to the top of what's out there for a young Asian actor.' No one had done anything higher profile than that. And I'm, like, 'OK, but I'm only 15.'

I'm in a position where I'm being continually knocked back for the kind of independent films I want to be in because people don't know who I am.

I was 19 years old, pumping gas and going nowhere. I was kind of a high school dropout at that point because I had left school to play hockey, but no one drafted me.

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

After I got to Hollywood, I resented that I didn't get a crack at more dramatic roles because I photographed so beautifully.

I don't get offered leading parts. I suppose I've become a kind of character actor or sideman. I think it had to do with probably in the '90s, I refused so many leading roles that they gave up on me, or I just became unpopular, or I became old. All those reasons.

You're constantly getting rejected in acting. You get rejected more than you get hired!

But I've lost parts because of my looks. I auditioned to star with Richard Dreyfuss in 'The Buddy System.' The producers said no one would believe he would leave me for another woman. They just couldn't see me with him.

It never really worked out for me in my own country. They said, 'You're not famous enough for the lead roles, and you're too present for the supporting roles - you'd overpower the lead.'

My first ten years in Hollywood were really tough. I'd be coaching friends who came to me for acting advice, and then they'd make it before I did. I'd still be helping them while they were on movie sets and I had four lines on a TV show.

The worst thing for an actor is to be stuck in one kind of thing. But if you're not in people's faces all the time, you can lose traction. And that affects the choice of things you get offered.

I was only a leading man for a minute; now I'm a character actor.

After 'Arrested Development,' I didn't know for sure if I wanted to be an actor. I was hitting this wall, where I was the 'ethnic best friend' or the 'sassy teenager.' It felt like the same note, and I didn't feel like I was growing.

Once you've published a few books, you drag around this ball and chain of a back list. All the evidence of how few you've sold is there. I think a lot of writers my age have this strange experience of going from would-be to has-been.

I used to not get work even on TV, but wherever I went, they'd treat me with respect but never offer work.

I do feel a bit dejected about my film career. I am sad that it didn't take off as expected. I didn't get my due as an actor. I have an attractive personality and good looks. But I don't know what went wrong? You need to stop thinking about such things and move on.

I got the 'Stranger Things' script, like, a week before NBC canceled 'State of Affairs.' I really had this moment where I'm like, 'I'm done.' My neuroses is very sophisticated: I was like, 'I am done. Hollywood is done with David Harbour. They are finished.'

Personally, I've always had to face casting directors or producers saying, 'You're right for the part, but nahh, you're not quite what we're looking for.'

I don't want to be 'Brynn from 'The Voice'' forever.

I assumed no one would ever listen to my music, and for quite a lot of years, I was right.

It is hard as an actor when you are typecast at a really young age and come out of that pigeonhole thing.