Christina Hendricks Quotes

I dropped out of the business for 8 years, and I taught English as a second language. Then I decided to go back to acting, and I got 'Mad Men'.

I've only done four or five episodes of 'Two and a Half Men,' and its amazing how many people recognize me for that more than anything else in my career.

I've really dreamed of doing television. All of us do television, coming up. But when I was coming up, television was a black hole for actors. Now, television has a certain cache. Now everybody wants to be on TV because they're doing adult dramas. If you're an actor, it's like, "Well, get me on television," because it's the only place you can do it and also make a living at it. If my kids need shoes, I better do a TV show because I damn sure don't make any money with independent films.

I kind of got into TV when I went to visit a show my brother was working on. Soon I got the second lead in a TV show.

I was a temp for three years in New York when I was auditioning; when I was cast in 'Mad Men,' I was still a temp. I'm good at making copies; I'm good at typing things. I'm good at killing the day and making it look like I'm doing something.

I think I must be one of the only actors I know who has never even auditioned for a small part in 'Eastenders.'

I've been incredibly blessed with good roles the past few years, but none of them compares to the experience of playing Ellsworth on 'Deadwood.' There are times when I've had as much fun or had comparably great material, but as a body of work, playing Ellsworth tops anything else in my lifetime.

'Mad Men' has been my big break. I'm beyond thrilled.

'Dawson's Creek' was my introduction to the industry. It put some money in my pocket and it put me in the position I wanted to be in, where I could audition for projects that I wanted to be a part of. I didn't find it creatively fulfilling in any way, though. Working with artists excites me, but 'Dawson's Creek' didn't do that.

Most of my work had been in theater, and I was jumping not just into television but 'L.A. Law,' which had all these megastars in it.

'Mad Men' is a hard act to follow. Unless you're called Elisabeth Moss, stuff like this only comes along once in your career.

I never really acted at school. It was doing small parts on TV that really got me started.

I did a guest appearance on The Practice and loved it.

'Caroline In The City' was such an interesting thing, because I'd never been on the set of a sitcom or even auditioned for a sitcom when they gave me that part.

I'm one of the lucky actors in television. I don't make a lot of big waves, but there's constant activity, and that's the way I prefer to live my life.

Before 'Mad Men,' I definitely had very dry spells and I know what those feel like, and I don't think that ever leaves you as an actor.

I've been looking to do TV for a while. I've always done guest starring stuff. I've done a couple of multi-episode arcs, and I've always loved the experience.

Lesli Glatter directed an episode of 'Mad Men' and then came in to direct an episode of 'House.' And she didn't recognize me at all.

I didn't go to drama school, so I feel like I did all my growing up on 'Hollyoaks.'

Being on 'The Sopranos' definitely prepared me for the militant secrecy of 'Mad Men.'

What's important is the work that you're doing, not the country that you're in. I would much rather be in a play at the Royal Court than in Los Angeles making 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.'

I could have stayed in L.A. and done sitcoms for awhile and will probably go back and do one I hope.

With all the movies I've done, I still get recognized from my episode of 'Law & Order' more than anything else. It never fails.

I've been so blessed and so lucky to be a part of great shows like 'Chuck' and projects 'Daybreak.'

I have been recognized from 'Mad Men,' and it's so cool when that happens because I am so proud to be a part of the show.