William Petersen Quotes

I love live theater; I like the relationship between the show and the audience. That's my comfort zone, but more than anything, it's what makes me happy.

I grew up going to musicals with my mom here in New York, going to Broadway. I used to be in musicals in high school.

L.A. is not a town that supports a lot of theater. Most of the shows don't get through a week or two and then, the audience kind of disappears.

We weren't rich people, but my parents and I shared an interest in the theater and so we went a lot. And that definitely inspired me.

I love going to plays. There's a subconscious side to it, obviously-some people like to be spanked for XYZ psychological reasons, and I like to go to plays, and I can't entirely explain why.

I mean I was very shy but I was also very extroverted because I was doing plays. I'd been doing plays since I was a little kid. But, I did feel like an outsider because I went to like a 'college-prep' kind of high school that had a really big football team and was known for its program so I was like this weird boy that did plays.

Paris is the playwright's delight. New York is the home of directors. London, however, is the actor's city, the only one in the world. In London, actors are given their head.

Theater in Chicago will always be my first love. It started careers for me and about 50 of my friends. We all love coming back. As soon as the TV show is over, I'll be back in Chicago, doing live theater.

I think theater will always be my first love. I've been doing it since I was nine, and there's nothing quite like being on stage, having the immediate intake of energy and exchange of ideas.

I love theatre because that is my foundation. So, if I had to make a choice in terms of where I get the most fulfillments, it would be theatre. The reaction is so immediate, unlike with TV and film.

Theatre is my first love. I don't understand why people say that theatre can't give you money.

I come from a very expressive family, so it's really not surprising that we became actors. There was a lot of real-life drama in our house. Some of it was drama, some of it was comedy and some of it was comic-tragedy.

I grew up in the theater, my mother is an actress, I was always around the world of acting and theater.

It's not a love of poetry readings that attracts those who do come to them but theater.

I love theater, I would love to do a play, but it's hard to beat.

Theater's my first love. I love it. It excites me. It feeds me.

I have always felt it a great privilege to be in the theater, and I am grateful to all the playwrights who have given me so many wonderful roles. It's a terrifying business, but it has its compensations. Where else could I have found someone who for 50 years has given me sheer enchantment?

I love Chicago. It is my new favorite city. It is the perfect place to do any kind of theater.

In the theater lying is looked upon as an occupational disease.

The theater is a place that doesn't always but can reward hard work and tenacity, unlike television.

I'll never admit that I'm an actor, because the next horrible follow-up question is always, "Oh, what have I seen you in?"

I'd wanted to be [an actress] all my life.

The theater was my mother and my father.

I can't remember a time when I wasn't acting, so I can't imagine what I would do if I stopped now.

When I was growing up, I didn't do plays in downtown Boston, and my parents weren't putting me in auditions. They never thought, Oh, she has a gift! They never thought of me as an entertainer when I was a young kid.