Toby Jones Quotes

People have this belief that actors are able to go out there and say, 'Oh I choose this job,' but most of the time we're just taking the job we can get. We don't just get offered thousands of jobs; we might earn one job a year and that's the one we'll take because we've got to pay the rent.

Most actors are lucky to ever get a job, period. I never forget that, because I have so many actor friends in L.A., and most of us barely ever work. And those of us that do, it's still only 60 days out of the year that we're actually on camera. It's an absurdly low number.

I slowly came to realize that this job of being an actor, you spend most of your time looking for work. That is your job. Your job is auditioning. You spend very little of your time actually working.

I've always considered myself an actor, but I wasn't making a living as an actor.

There are two kinds of actors: those with one job too few, who have to take every one that comes along, and those with one job too many, who can always turn down the one they don't want.

I always find it funny when I watch actors talking about, 'I chose to do this part.' A lot of times it's 'you're lucky to get the job.' We're like, 'Thank you so much.'

I just feel incredibly lucky to be employed when there are so many actors and actresses who are not employed. That's why, you know, I sometimes feel desperate, in case I'm not going to be cast again.

I'm one of those fortunate actors who gets to work pretty much every day. I've had a run of good fortune and work with some terrific people who have hired me.

I was an out-of-work actor for 10 years.

Like all actors, after every job, I think, 'Well, that's the last one, and I'd better think about doing something else.' But I've been so very lucky, and I've managed to keep going for a long time. It's just the way the cookie crumbles, and it's crumbled pretty well for me. I appreciate it, and I realise how lucky I am.

I look at all these wonderful actors who are out of work, and I don't know what accounts for my good fortune, but I'm grateful for it.

You'd be surprised how much being a good actor pays off.

I see that things are getting made a lot faster for less money and there are a lot less opportunity, I think, for actors. There's not a lot of work in the U.K. I mean, that's why everyone's moving to America because that's where the work seems to be. But it definitely feels like a lot more of a slog to get a gig these days. I suppose that's a lot to do with our current climate and financial messes. I certainly see that people seem to have to work harder with a lot less time.

I don't consider myself an actor, for me it's employment. Like the actor who's a waiter a lot, I'm an actor when I'm not on tour, in that that's a job I can do.

I'm glad to be an actor to be employed by people who are now 12, probably. I look forward to that.

The only thing hard about being an actor is being out of work. So, when you get a job - that part ain't hard at all.

I started acting when I was 13, so acting has been, with great fortune, my job since I could get a job.

When you envy actors, only envy them for their good roles. Keep in mind they have to do a lot of roles to make a living, and not all of them are good. When they're doing a stupid role in a bad production, it's kind of a dumb thing to do when you're an adult. When you're doing a great role that's well-written, it's an enviable job.

When you're a young actor you ring your agent every evening. It's not like when you're in Hollywood where you do one picture a year. You just hope you get a day on television.

When I landed in L.A. in early '89, William Morris decided to take me on to see if I could get any jobs. I was cast in a TV movie called Protected Surf, and made $30,000 in four weeks, and I decided I needed to take acting seriously, because I had never made that much money in a year, much less four weeks. That's when I decided I thought I could make a career out of it.

I would say only be an actress if you genuinely feel the calling, because it's a tough profession.

If you're successful, acting is about as soft a job as anybody could ever wish for. But if you're unsuccessful it's worse than having a skin disease.

I'm not going to pursue it the way that actors pursue it which means going to all of the auditions and getting a job and all that stuff, because I don't really need to get a job because I have a job as a writer/director. That's how I make my living mostly now. So I don't need to make a living as an actress.

I think we all understand disappointing yourself. Especially in the acting profession, which is probably similar to a political career, even the most stable, head-on-straight person is still going to be confronted with doing something that they shouldn't, that could affect their job or cause them not to be at their best - even if it's something as simple as taking a red eye for an audition at 6 a.m. the next morning and you know you'll be dragging.

For most actors, it's such a struggle to get work. Once they have it, they feel that there's an enormous amount of pressure on them to make it work, and have everyone love them.