Persis Khambatta Quotes

There aren't enough meaty roles for actresses. Also, most actresses aren't ready to take risks.

For a while, I thought, maybe I should direct, until I got to New York and saw the stupidity of that idea. If it's hard to get into acting, what is it like for a woman to become a director?

I really can't complain about actresses who get paid to be dumb. Most of us can't get paid to be smart.

There are very few actresses who can grow old and still get exciting parts... I think it's very important for me to have wider horizons, rather than just waiting for calls.

Hollywood is the definition of sexual discrimination.

I never wanted to be a bombshell; I wanted to be an actor. I would much prefer to be a woman than a man, but if I was a dude, maybe I'd have Johnny Depp's island because women in this industry after a certain age definitely don't get to do 'Pirates of the Caribbean.'

Trying to constantly get yourself into movies is extremely stressful and sometimes just impossible.

Thank God for television. I've been able to consistently work in television even when people say, 'Oh my God, I haven't seen you since this film or that project.' At least I'm working. It's very difficult to get that next movie role. I'm grateful to have the television world accept me.

The Screen Actors Guild numbers are frightening: Something like 90 percent of the roles are for men, 5 percent are for livestock and 5 percent are for women.

As women, we tend to take the easy way out in showbiz. I have done movies where all I did was look pretty in every frame.

When I started in films, it never really occurred to me that I could make a career out of acting.

With 'Women in Hollywood,' I didn't direct it, but I produced it, and what we did is followed the money of Hollywood and how that intersects with issues relating to women and, frankly, sexism.

For women in their 30s, it's so hard to get good parts.

I don't compete with actresses; I only compete with heroes.

One day I was in school, and the next I was acting opposite Jeremy Irons. That's how quickly it happened. I was in class and then working with Sir Anthony Hopkins.

I think all industries are sexist in nature and I don't think the film industry is any different.

It is not easy to grow old in this business, when you are a woman above all, in the cinema.

I'm what you call a good, old-fashioned working actor who has had delusions of grandeur for my entire career and has known what I want to do, but there's a lot going on out there. There are a lot fewer films being made, and there's a lot of competition.

Honestly, after about three years on a show, you're like, 'Thank you very much for giving me a step up. Now can I go do movies?'

I never wanted to be an actress who complained about the lack of roles for women.

I would love to do more movies, but the reality is women have many more opportunities on television to play a greater variety of characters.

It's definitely an exciting time to be an actress.

There are really very few roles for women in films in which you can also make a living.

I took my acting very seriously. I did over 40 films, and naturally, some of them were called B-movies because the woman was at the top of the billing. Women couldn't star in their own movies.

Good roles are hard to find no matter what age.