January Jones Quotes

Writing is like building a bridge while you're on it. If you step forward you fall off and there's nothing in front of you.

With each book, I'm trying to do something that terrifies me.

What makes me smile is a movie where I feel like it is dangerous, or there's that fresh idea there. It's about learning and growing and trying new things and tinkering, all of those things that keep you excited. But if you're not nervous, if you're not on that boundary of the unknown, I don't think you're getting better. I think you're kind of sitting back, and I don't think you're advancing the form.

Every new painting is like throwing myself into the water without knowing how to swim.

If I knew what the picture was going to be like I wouldn’t make it. It was almost like it was made already – the challenge is more about trying to make what you can’t think of.

Working with talented people and challenging myself as an actor [excites me].

I like being at that place where you can either fall or stand. That's where I think you really have a shot at doing something truthful.

The beauty of the unexpected and unknown, and it's certainly very tantalizing for me as an actor. Other actors can't deal with that; they want to know, but then they make choices and decisions with that knowledge because that knowledge gives them forethought, and they can think about how they want to play something that takes away spontaneity of what they could be doing.

I don't like comfort zones. Having never had any drama training, I don't really have a technique, so I'm continually learning new things. I like being frightened, and always having to start from scratch.

I don't like improv at all. It terrifies me. I like to know exactly what I'm going to say. Being surprised does make me a better actor. Anytime I'm afraid of something that makes me rise to the occasion, it scares me, but it's what makes great actors - being in the moment.

I know Charlie Kaufman really well, for instance. Charlie Kaufman starts a story, and he has no freaking idea where he's going. None. Zero. And he doesn't want to know, because there's a little bit of death in that.

I'm always drawn to the thing I think I can't possibly do, because I tend to be better when I think I can't possibly do something than I am when I'm pretty sure I can do something.

I think actors get too comfortable. I like being uncomfortable as an actor because it keeps you alive. I don't know, I think it's important.

I really don't know what I'm doing... I don't. It's terrible. I go in there and I learn how to be like the character and do the best I can, and that's all I really do.

I love to be in the position of not knowing what I'm gonna do, but having rehearsed all of those so when something happens with the others actors I go with whatever that is I'm getting.

I want to be scared. I want to keep taking insane risks. I want to be scared because you're going to grow through that whether you want to or not. I don't want to play the same guy. I want to keep throwing curveballs to you guys and keep telling stories.

If you don't have nerves and a little trepidation about any new project, then I don't think you're really alive.

If you don't have problems, you don't have opportunities.

Change takes courage.

The best actors just stay in the moment, and whatever happens in the scene is a genuine surprise. You really do not know what's going to happen next. But living that out in life is very dangerous because it throws you into a place where you don't know if you're going to survive.

I think, as an actor, you're constantly confronted with your fear of sticking your neck out.

I'm not sure that I want to be without some lack of confidence. If you are too sure of yourself, you don't grow. You may feel confident in some things, but other fields come up as a challenge. And if you don't anticipate trouble, you will be in trouble.

When we are filming, it often feels like we're flying blind. As an actor, you have no idea if your choices are right or if they work. Some scenes feel like a complete Hail Mary. Imagine you're blindfolded and cook a massive Thanksgiving feast with only new recipes - without getting to taste any of them along the way.

I would be very uncomfortable doing a safe part. It would make me think something is wrong.