Donald Faison Quotes

I used to be more insecure about working, and I guess the older I get, the more rich my life becomes, I don't need to work as much as I used to. I mean, New York is a hard town to be in when you have nothing else to do besides show business. It's brutal, especially as an actor, because you sit around with this low - grade fever of anxiety, waiting for the phone to ring. Or waiting for something.

I've got the best of all worlds. It's every actor's dream to wake up in New York City and go to an acting job rather than to a restaurant to wash dirty dishes. And I live so close to the studios that I ride my bike to work.

I've been very lucky in the characters I've chosen. Up until last year I was a nobody. I did jobs I booked because I needed to put food in my mouth.

I've learned through experience that you can't ever predict what's going to happen with any show. When I signed on to 'Ugly Betty,' I just prayed that I wouldn't get fired after the pilot, and four years later, I was still doing it.

My career has suddenly started to be the one that I'd always wanted, not in terms of level of success, but in terms of - and this is what I've been banging on about - playing different parts in different media.

It's important to be successful enough to be able to keep doing what you love.

I can't complain. I'm making a living out of what I do, which is really rare for a lot of actors. The hard part is staying confident and staying with it.

I prefer to have longevity. I like as great a variety as possible, hopefully to avoid getting stuck in one kind of character, having to do it over and over again. I seek to challenge myself as an actor - and at the same time support my family.

Jim Carrey and Steve Carell did dramatic roles. I look up to them. You want a career like that.

'ER' was an all-consuming universe, but I don't have a single regret. It gave me some of the greatest friendships I have and afforded me one of the rarest commodities in an actor's life, which is the financial security to pick and choose jobs for factors besides the paycheck.

Life is about balance. You don't want to live out of whack over here or out of whack over here. I want to win and be well compensated, and I think there's a balance to find. It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other.

I always have moments on set where I think, 'Oh my God, this is my life right now.' And it could've been so different.

I couldn't be happier with my career.

You don't have to give up your dreams in order to earn a living - they can go hand in hand.

There's so many things I want to accomplish in the world of acting. But, the two most important are that I want to keep paying the bills and I want to get better. That's about it. I enjoy what I do. I'll stay busy. I've been lucky.

There comes a point in an actor's life when they have to just lie back and let things fall into place.

I'm a character actor. I have to find work in good movies where I can make something of my role. I'm a very lucky guy to be in that kind of position. It's like a kid who dreams of becoming a baseball player and then he gets to play for the Yankees.

There's so much I want to do as an actor. I feel like there's so much more that I want to achieve and that I can achieve.

My advice to young women who are looking to be successful; make sure you're passionate about whatever it is that you're doing. And make sure you're fulfilled by the opportunities within your job.

As an actor, you get to live out many professions. I just want to continue to evolve. My one goal in this business is just longevity and respect, and that's something I'll always have to work toward.

If you're successful, acting is about as soft a job as anybody could ever wish for. But if you're unsuccessful it's worse than having a skin disease.

I consider that success for anything, whether it's being a musician or a writer. As long as you can support yourself, you're successful. People need to change their idea of what success is.

My great love is the stage because I do feel like it's the place where, if you're lucky and everything is firing in the right way, you have the greatest shot at being successful. I don't mean by getting great reviews, but I mean by finding the core fo the person that you're playing.

I would definitely like to continue my career in Hollywood, work hard and do my best.

I was going to be a High School teacher. I was studying at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, up in Canada. I was also acting in a wonderfully supportive theatre community in Edmonton. There's a lot of support for theatre there. So, I was having a great time, but I didn't consider acting as a serious career initially, because even the most successful actors that I know in Edmonton are not super successful. Acting over there is just not a success-oriented career.