Emily Watson Quotes

I wasn't accepted the first time I tried to get into drama school. I said, 'I'll give this one more shot... and if that doesn't work, I won't bang my head against this painful brick wall.'

Anybody who's serious about their passion in life gets doors slammed in their face, literally and figuratively.

You go up for hundreds, thousands of roles, and you get told no, no, no, so many times.

I never doubted that I would work, and every time I went to an audition, I went into the room with the knowledge that I was going to get the part. Ninety-nine times out of 100, I didn't.

My first show was called 'I Know I've Been Changed' in '92. I tried to do this show for years and years. It kept failing over and over and over again. Every time I went out to do the show, nobody showed up. I was like, 'What is this about?'

If you're the type of person who has to fulfill your dreams, you've gotta be resourceful to make sure you can do it. I came out to California when I was 21, thinking my New York credentials would take me all the way. I came back home a year later all dejected and a failure.

I received rejection letters for ten years (one on a napkin, written in crayon.) I had all my rejection notices stored in a box. When the box was finally full I took it to the curb and set it on fire. The next day I went out and got a temp job.

You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning.

The only truly safe thing you can do is to try over and over again. To go for it, to get rejected, to repeat, to strive, to wish. Without rejection there is no frontier, there is no passion, and there is no magic.

For the longest time, I was auditioning, getting called back, and I had a long string of things not going my way. I thought, 'Maybe this is never going happen. Maybe I'll never book a commercial.'

Don't let anyone tell you your ideas are stupid or the thing you feel most passionate about 'won't work' - it's happened to me time and time again, and we find that if you push at what you think is interesting hard enough, you're probably right.

Don't get discouraged from all the rejection.

When I got out of high school, I wanted to be an actor but was getting a lot of rejections. I was getting rejected by life. My mother, God rest her soul, told me not to quit.

I was always told at school that you had to have a back-up plan, but all I ever wanted to do was act. There was no plan B for me.

I tried to get into the National Youth Theatre and didn't, and I tried to get into drama school and didn't, and then I went to university and was really delighted that I went there. I think having the word 'no' can be quite creative.

I firmly believe that life is an 'and' proposition and not an 'or' one. If you really love something, you just have to try it. The worse that can happen is that you'll be told 'no.'

I always feel like rejection is my petrol. That's what keeps me going.

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

I was rejected by casting directors during the day. I attended class in the evening, then rode 90 miles on the train home.

As an actor, you have to get used to being told no, develop a thick skin, and just keep persevering.

I didn't get my first pilot that I screen-tested for, and I really thought it was the end of the world. But it's fine, you know, you move on to something else.

There is going to be a hundred thousand doors slammed in your face before one opens, so feel ok about taking rejection.

Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.

I'm talking to anyone who has been dumped - have not gotten the job you really wanted or have received those horrible rejection letters from grad school. You know, the disappointment of losing, or not getting something you badly want. When that happens, show what you are made of.

I never would've tried YouTube if I hadn't had so many doors slammed in my face.