Fred Allen Quotes

I've been acting since second grade, and I just remember when I first moved to New York and I was living in Washington Heights with three other actors in this tiny apartment and busting my butt to get to the subway, walking to, like, five auditions in a day.

As an actor, whatever I get the opportunity to do, if it has a good story then I'm in. I thought 'Dead End' had a great story; 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' of course, was probably the first real horror film I was in.

I actually love auditioning because I usually don't get the part. I've tested with Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Tom Cruise. So I've gotten to that point, and I understand when I don't get it. There are a lot of very talented people out there.

When you go out on auditions for big movies, and you're not a big star, you get used to getting close but not getting the part.

I don't think actors should ever expect to get a role, because the disappointment is too great. You've got to think of things as an opportunity. An audition's an opportunity to have an audience.

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.

People were confused by me, and at first I was auditioning a lot for the crazy characters or the victim, someone who'd been attacked. Which is great, because usually those are the best acting roles.

When actors first come up, you're auditioning for everything - you're trying to sniff it out like a pig with a truffle and you would do anything!

In Washington the politicians lie on the record and tell the truth off the record. In the Middle East, it’s the opposite. They lie off the record, and tell the truth on the record.

In Washington, every closet has a revolving door.

Usually, when you're an actress, you have to audition 20 times.

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

The political arena is the funniest.They [politicians] are always pretending to change, but they never change. They're the best actors and actresses in the world. They've always been hilarious since the beginning of time.

I'm getting good offers, as good as ever sometimes. I just finished a thing with Billy Bob Thornton that was the most unique part I've ever played in my life, in the most unique project.

I don't sit around and wait for great parts. I'm an actress, and I love being one, and I'll probably be doing it till I'm 72, standing around the back lot doing 'Gunsmoke.'

I play mostly bad guys on TV and mostly good guys in movies.

To me, the stand up part in my life is great. I know I can do that. When I get an acting chance, I'm really thrilled.

As so often happens with Washington scandals, it isn't the original scandal that gets people in the most trouble - it's the attempted cover-up.

It's weird when auditioning for roles, because a lot of my mates go out for the same roles. You don't want to know that you're beating someone to the role.

As an actress we don't beat one another. It's whoever's right for the part.

I had a good theater career for years. I played Hamlet when I was 22, and I've played some really great roles.

You know they say the most dangerous person of the world is a member of the United States Congress just home from a three-day fact-finding trip.

First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.

It's nice to have a little bit of action in your world. Sometimes us actors go a couple months without working, it gets a little crazy. It's good to be busy.

Now, the typical way you make good things happen in Washington is you find a bunch of wealthy companies who agree with you.