Kelli O'Hara Quotes

There's a reason why I do anxious characters - it comes from a lot of personal anxiety. The great thing is, having that history, it's really fun to bring that into the characters... and play with it.

Portraying emotionally ill characters gives me the chance to really act.

All good actors are unpredictable, and a little crazy in a good way, because they feel more secure playing other people than themselves.

In my career, there have been three things that were challenging: playing gay; playing a Jewish woman; and playing Chekhov. The scariest part was playing Chekhov!

I like playing characters with internal problems.

It's always appealing to play a character that has to overcome himself as well as an obstacle. It makes the drama so much deeper.

I've been able to perform in front of thousands of people on stage in a character that's nothing like me. I'm very shy.

I told him that I can play it if he wanted to write it, and I would be willing to try and go there emotionally. I did not know as an actress if I would be able to get there, because when you feel really deep emotions or pain, you don't want to go back there.

If I ideally can, I'd do a comedy, and then I would do something where I'm a mental patient, and then I'd go back and do a comedy so I can continue to express myself in different ways.

I was worried for a while that it was some sort of reflection of me that all I seemed to be getting were these characters that were a tad bit loony. But I love it. Those are the most fun characters to play!

I'm still trying to figure myself out as an actor.

As an actor, you're always playing different people, so you yourself are always kind of going through an identity crisis.

I would like to think that I'm more different from my character than I am.

The roles I was lucky enough to get were real stretches for me: usually a character who was older, or a little weird, or whatever. And it was hard, not just for the lack of work but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you.

People say that they like the characters that they believe that I am. But, I don't as much. I like the characters that I believe that I am not. Like my role on 'Law and Order.' That character unnerved people. And I loved every second of it. I want to continue growing as an actress. There are ways that I can reach quicker, or deeper, with acting.

You know, I have some issues. But I just love to play different characters all the time, and I try not to repeat myself too much.

I want to be uncomfortable - acting is uncomfortable.

I can't do a role or character unless I have lived that character. For me, the best teacher is life.

I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel I'm open to the possibility of something extraordinary happening.

There are parts of me that I keep secret even from myself. I have demons and I'd love to be able to healthily look at the demons and still be a wonderful actor and not feel I need them to create.

To me, any character that is conflicted inside as well as outside of themselves is always a better role to play.

I've had so many horrible things happen in my life since I did 'Home Improvement' that it's worried me about doing comedy because - how do I say this - I'm a much darker person than I was.

I had no inclination to perform as a kid. I was a shy child - I always had my nose in a library book. I didn't start acting until I went to college. Once I started, it seemed to fit like a glove. I felt completely at home on stage. It was the perfect way for me to express myself, even better than writing.

Well, with each character that I play in my life as an actor, I try to figure out how to find the challenge.

Everyone is usually screwed up in some way and that is usually where the work comes in - figuring out how to make it believable and make it real to present someone's problems that you don't necessarily actually know anything about.