Sonu Nigam Quotes

I went from sort of trying to get work to all of a sudden being signed up for the next few years on something, and something of this scale with some of the best people in the business involved, acting and directing. It was a dream.

It's cliche, but everybody says, 'We're all one song away,' and it's so true. The difference between me and the guy down the street busking with his guitar case open is just one song.

I've been wanting to sing for a long time. I've been singing all my life, and I've tried different record companies, but it seemed like - it was such a struggle and so hard to get out there. So, I said, 'I'm gonna go on American Idol and see how far it takes me.'

I got cast on 'MADtv' as one of eight permanent cast members chosen from 8,000 comics who'd been screened. For any comic trying to make something of themselves, that was like hitting triple 7s-jackpot.

I struggled for 15 years in this business before Miami Vice came along.

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

I played a scene at the end of my first year, and that's how I was discovered.

I just started writing for my own amusement and occasionally singing in little clubs around Los Angeles. Then I wrote 'The Rose,' and through a series of divine things that I had no control over and had no idea were going to happen, it got in the movie, and that changed everything.

I had been offered a Hollywood contract before my 18th birthday. It gave me the spark I needed.

I might do 'X Factor' next year. It's looking good that I won't get the sack at Christmas.

I am so grateful to Marc Jacobs, Riccardo Tisci, Karl Lagerfeld, and Katie Grand, who took a chance on me that first season and gave me an opportunity.

Look at The Beatles: how they struggled, how they worked in order to become such a good little band. And that's why they had such longevity and are still admired today.

Godspell was a good leap for me, it was a good shop window.

My first movie ever was 'Breaking Away.' I stumbled into an incredible part in a movie that was incredible to be a part of. Peter Yates, the director, became a lifelong friend. He sort of plucked me from obscurity and gave me a life.

It would be hard to find a more compelling example of the American dream than Alberto Gonzales.

I couldn't get a job to save my life. That's why I wrote 'Road to Paloma.' That got into Sundance and got into that scene, and that's how I got the role in 'The Red Road.'

I was discovered, or mentored, by Norman Lear, who plucked me from the grinder of relative obscurity.

My career, definitely, the early years were a little scattershot, in terms of - it was a little regional theater, it was a lot of voiceovers, it was a lot of random day jobs. I mean, it was hard. It was hard to scrap around, and once 'Hairspray' happened, then it all kind of clicked into place.

With 'American Idol,' they're giving you a pass to get launched on, and it's up to you what you do with it.

I am blessed to have worked in big-budget films at an early stage of my career.

I really do think that getting the golden ticket for 'American Idol,' it's just the start of something really great.

I needed to walk through the 'Idol' door to get to the rest of my career.

When I got a call about 'Celebrity X factor' I thought wow, what an opportunity. It felt like everything had been leaning towards that point.

My career says that my doors will always be open for all. When an Anupam Kher walked in through my door at 28 and got 'Saaransh,' it launched his unimaginably productive career.

Before the music and before the fame, I loved Apl for Allan Pineda, for being a brother that he is and for the inspiration - for him to actually come to the States from the Philippines and make something of his life. That's inspirational.