Francine Pascal Quotes

As an actor, there is room for a certain amount of creativity, but you're always ultimately going to be saying somebody else's words. I don't think I'd have the stamina, skill or ability to write a novel, but I'd love to write short stories and poetry, because those are my two passions.

I think the theater is where you stand up, and you say, 'Here is what I have to offer.'

The biggest impact that acting and theater had was, of course, stage presence, but it also had a big impact on my writing.

In elementary school, I was always writing little plays for my friends to be in. I was much more of a director than a performer.

When I was a kid, I used to make up all these characters. I love comedy a lot, and I don't get to do it often. Somewhere in the middle, I shifted into doing drama.

I love acting because it's empowering. It empowers me.

I always wanted to tell stories and act.

I started writing because it was hard to find acting jobs. I didn't like any monologues in auditions, so I started to write my own things. Since then, I have written a couple of shows. I was nominated for playwright of the year for a play I wrote called 'Potential Space.'

I feel like I've been the star of my own show for a while now. I was always putting on shows as a kid, and obviously, my household was really creative.

Kids used to come round to my house, and I'd force them to do a play in the bay windows of my house and get all the mums and dads to sit and watch. I'd write the programme, write the play and be the star.

I was a very imaginative and theatrical child and wasn't afraid of being in front of a camera.

I wrote stories from the time I was a little girl, but I didn't want to be a writer. I wanted to be an actress. I didn't realize then that it's the same impulse. It's make-believe. It's performance.

I try to picture my books being acted out.

If I have a long period of time away from acting, I tend to write.

The whole idea of spellbinding, of being an entertainer, being the center of the stage, making up words - that let me know that writing is nice.

Since when I was little, I would always write a script and tell my sister, 'Read this line. I'm going to film it.'

I enjoy being an actor in my own movies.

I wrote my first play when I was eight. It was about a queen, and I - of course! - was the queen.

I really wanted to create some of my own characters, then it became wanting to act the parts, then it sort of grew from there because I really enjoyed doing it.

I'd been writing stories since I was a child. I wrote little books for my mom and bound them myself with needle and thread. Mostly, they were about my pets.

Being able to improvise is the basis for creating all characters and situations, for everything to do with performing, really. And it's good therapy as well.

I know I always had a lot of energy growing up and I had to put it somewhere. Theater allowed me to really feel things, to laugh, to cry, to explode outward. I could do anything and it was totally accepted and appreciated. If I hadn't gone into the theater, I probably would have been a psychotic killer.

Ever since I was 7 years old, I was writing. I remember being in the basement of my house, this dank, horrible basement, putting on plays with not-very-willing participants, and I would promise kids in the neighborhood that I'd play Nintendo 64 with them after we'd rehearse this stupid play that I wrote.

I think stories get better the more people try to amuse themselves.

Part of my job as Children's Laureate is to visit schools and talk about my love of books and stories and encourage them all to do it as well - to read, to write, to never be afraid of their own voice. Because we all have something to say.