Javed Jaffrey Quotes

I have often been asked why I am so fond of playing male parts. As a matter of fact, it is not male parts, but male brains that I prefer.

I've got to tell you, I've played real characters before and people always bring up this word 'impersonation,' and I'm never entirely sure what it means.

I think every role you take on, you should take on the responsibility of doing the best representation of that person or that character or that role. When it is a human being that has actually existed, and it is a person that people know of, yeah, you feel an even more amount of pressure to do a good job.

In fact, I'll be taking a lot of Cathy Gale with me. I expect that was why I was chosen for the part.

I tend to play nurses and waitresses and policewomen.

In sitcoms, the women are so beautiful, understanding and well-bred. They have humor, but sort of display it with a twinkle of the eye and not a guffaw. But there's no juice in that for me.

A lot of the time, in the past, I have played the pretty blonde in a lot of roles.

Theatre comes alive when someone cross-dresses onstage.

Actresses are required to perform the epitome of a certain type of femininity.

Why, in the Peking Opera, are women's roles played by men?...Because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.

I think that acting involves doing your job so well that you are able to help the viewer identify with the character.

I can't do an accent unless I'm on the set. I forget how to do it until I'm on the set.

As an actor you get categorized by other people, but it's not like I arrange myself into comedy mode or serious mode. If it's good writing you just have to play it true - if it's funny, it's funny. But obviously you don't want it to be amusing if you're playing Hedda Gabler!

Popular culture is filled with girls.

Every role you do is kind of a side of yourself. That's why they give you the part.

If you play a real character who's famous and still alive, it makes things easier if you have the luck to have a good relationship with them.

The better I am at observing moments in life, the better I'll be at showing them in my acting.

One out of forty American men wears women's clothing. We've had more than forty presidents. One of these guys has been dancing around the Oval Office in a prom dress.

The best actors are always the ones who've directed as well, as they understand all the problems you face.

If someone plays a brooding actor in a film, people think they're brooding all the time.

There are two main jobs in acting - the first one is to be a good actor, and the second one is to convince everyone that you're a good actor.

I never get the tall, blonde, glamorous roles because I'm not tall, blonde and glamorous. I'm more the wee, disturbing characters because of the way I look or sound.

All of us have a lot of sides to ourselves, but the fun thing about being actor is you make one side predominant for the character you're playing.

As an actress, the joy of being able to play the three sides of any woman, which are the glamour, the pragmatic and the one not to be messed with, is pretty glorious.

My looks haven't prevented me from playing prostitutes or people broken by life. But when they need a token blonde with big breasts, that's OK, too. It's part of the game.