Ben Mendelsohn Quotes

'Home And Away' was my first big break. I was already a fan of the show, so to suddenly be on it was really good.

You don't get better as you get older in your career. It's not natural to have your best years late in your career. So I'm trying to do whatever I can to keep my body feeling good for as long as I can.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough interesting acting roles in New Zealand to sustain a career.

In Australia, there is a very famous show called 'Home and Away.' I was cast on that at 15. The day I started filming, my life changed.

You know, when you choose to make your living as an actor, it's all fine and good to look at it as some kind of artistic endeavor. At its best, it is that. But the fact is, most of the actors out there don't earn $3 million a picture and can't afford to take two years off between films and look for the right thing. Most of us are tradesmen.

I'm not like Henry Fonda. He lives to act. I've just had a dedication to do the best I could. When I don't have challenges, the days get long. But I do enjoy being on stage. If I do good work, I get a kick out of that.

Let's face it: Most of us don't realize it, but we are failing our kids as reading role models. The best role models are in the home: brothers, fathers, grandfathers; mothers, sisters, grandmothers. Moms and dads, it's important that your kids see you reading. Not just books - reading the newspaper is good, too.

The best thing about being an actress is getting good concert tickets.

I feel like Canadian movies should be as good or better than the competition because of the talent we have here. Someone like Ryan Gosling shouldn't have to come back here because it's a Canadian movie. He should want to come back because some of the best movies are being made here.

One of my obsession is animals. I'm into dog rescues. It drives me crazy when people go to pet stores and buy dogs. There are so many dogs that need a good home. And this sounds crazy, but I really believe they know what is happening and are appreciative, and I just think they make for the best pets.

I was on a show called 'SliDE' when I graduated from college, and then that set the premise of my love for acting. It was so much fun. I was on set with my best friends every day. From that, I got 'Home and Away' and it was such a relaxed, friendly environment. Everyone's so kind and supportive.

I've seen the greatest actors in the world, transcendent talents, who can't find a home.

There's a cumulative effect to getting good parts as a freelance actor, because you're only as good as your last job, and you have to keep going out and getting them. Unless you're part of the finance structure, by which I mean a bankable star, which I never was and never will be.

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.

I was Pippa on 'Home And Away' for nearly a decade.

All I really want to do is just keep acting, and some of it will stink, and some of it will be really good, and maybe when I'm 85 and presenting an Oscar like Bette Davis did, I can look back and say, 'It was okay, I did all right.'

I'm only interested in being a good actor and in being remembered for my best films, not for the way I look. But it seems inevitable in this line of work that I have to care about the way I look without getting obsessed about it.

I just finished my 62nd or my 63rd movie here, and you know, I do good ones, I do bad ones, I do big parts, I do small parts, I do cameos - but I've allowed myself a pat on the back, because I realized that I've been working in Hollywood now since 1973.

I came from Texas, I was studying theater at NYU, and I thought for sure that my lot in life would be to get the best bartending job I could find and do theater in New York. And that was a good life.

I want in 40 years to still be acting and to more than anything have longevity and not just be this huge flash in the pan and then disappear.

I look to longevity. I just consider myself an actress and getting good roles. If being a 'superstar' gets me good roles, then that's a positive thing. But my goal isn't just to be a superstar. It's to act for a long time.

It'd be great to do some other TV. 'Breaking Bad' is definitely my home, but I'd love to have a nice hiatus gig, like a recurring role. Or to do a good film. I'd like to do a Woody Allen movie. I really didn't have a plan, and that's okay with me.

After The Wizard Of Oz I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions.

I'm always glad to be offered roles, but wouldn't take any role as this could do you more harm than good, but I've been at what they call 'on the top' as far as being known for twenty years.

I consider myself fortunate that in my home, acting or the creative arts were a good option. This was a respected tour of duty in my family. Acting wasn't something that was left to tragic bohemians. But we weren't a family that obsessed on cinema.