Ray Liotta Quotes

Sherlock' changed the perception of me. I have these cheekbones and this face that suggest very middle-class or period-drama roles. I want to show everyone there's much more to me than Irene Adler.

Because I've done so many hour dramas, people tend to think of you as more of a dramatic actor and don't see you as doing comedy.

I've learned that people latch onto labels and stereotypes. There was a period when I was asked in every single interview how I liked being the new Frank Sinatra... I think people will soon realize that I do a lot more than interpret old songs.

The casting directors that were aware of 'The Real World' looked at me as a joke. It was so hard to get away from that.

In Australia I was seen as somebody who did only very modern, contemporary stuff. Then as soon as I went overseas I did two period pieces so it was like, 'When are you going to get out of the corsets?' And I was thinking I just got into them!

I try to take roles that don't fall within the parameters of any Asian stereotype.

After 'Student Of The Year,' when I played that baby-doll, diva character, I knew I would be stereotyped, and I wanted to break that image of me. I loved that role, but I don't want to be attached to one particular genre, so 'Highway' was a blessing in disguise.

I have people tell me all the time, 'I was expecting you to be mean.' Why is that? Because you saw me in a movie? That's acting.

I have been typecast in my career, although the type changes with the decades.

Everyone knows a lot about me without actually knowing me at all.

Once you get into something so big, people think of you in one way.

It's funny: people who meet me say, 'I thought you'd be different.' But I'm still the same guy.

I think the problem I have is that first impressions are the ones that stick with people. And people's first impressions of me are obviously from the film, from 'Gregory's Girl.'

I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to pigeonhole people, and there's nothing an actor loves more than to do something different.

I need to try and get away from that brat role, or people are going to think I'm a natural brat.

The girl-next-door image is a sort of joke; for years, I couldn't get any roles other than as somebody dark.

Hollywood loves to typecast, and I guess they saw me as a violent guy.

Maybe I'm misjudging people, but I feel like a lot of people still have an image of me in a bonnet at nine years old.

Is typecasting really a problem?

I don't tend to get cast in the theatre much. People assume I come with all this baggage. But they do cast me in films. In films, I'm a nobody.

In a lot of films, they're showing more complete, developed characters of diverse ethnic backgrounds. The larger concern is to be able to tastefully explore the stereotypes, and still move past them to see the core of people.

I think since I'm not particularly well-known as myself, it's funny all the different perceptions people have of me. Like, if someone's only seen me in 'Death Proof,' they think I'm sort of a ditzy girl who says stupid things and wears revealing outfits all the time.

I guess people expect or figure me to be a lot of different things.

People know you as an actor, and labels are so comfortable for people. That syndrome is always hard to get past.

I don't subscribe to the thinking that being typecast is a bad thing.