J. August Richards Quotes

Yes, I would love to play one of the leads in one these movies and have all those challenges and deal with all those complications, but the business being what it is, there is a slot for me in these kinds of films, so I enjoy them, and I enjoy the people that I work with.

I will not hesitate to take up good film offers.

Not that I'm in the stage of my career where they're offering me parts in 'The Revenant,' but I try very hard to go through the audition process because I feel like I learn quite a lot about the character and the people I'm going to work with.

Money's never an issue. I can go and work for a small studio theatre somewhere if it's a play I really care about, or do TV or a big commercial West End show.

When I found out about the audition, I knew that I was going in for 'From Dusk Till Dawn,' but I actually didn't know that I was going to be reading with Robert Rodriguez.

As an actor, you can steer a scene in another direction by playing it a little differently. And honestly? I like being an actor, and I want to keep having a career.

I've tried to take roles with great demands.

The 12 years that I was improvising are why I got the number of commercials I got when I was in New York and why I got 'The Devil Wears Prada,' and it's why I even got in the door for 'Mad Men.'

In between shooting for 'Awake,' I was attempting to have my own pilot season. The audition for 'Anger Management' actually came during a week that I was already testing for a couple other shows and we weren't really letting any other shows into the mix.

I still have to audition for most things.

I live in New York and got a call from my agent saying there was this new role on 'Mad Men,' it might be recurring and they're seeing people tomorrow. I said, 'OK, this is one of those things where you hedge your bets, use your miles and get on a plane.' I flew out Tuesday morning and got the job on a Wednesday.

I auditioned for 'American Sniper' and didn't get a role.

It just so happened that my agent called and said, 'There's this movie 'Pitch Perfect.' Here are the sides.' I think I originally read for Bumper, because Donald didn't have much in the script, so I read all Bumper's lines. I beatboxed for them, because that's what my character was supposed to do. And then I was like, 'By the way, I rap.'

I auditioned for the role of Jamie Mitchell in 'EastEnders,' and it was between me and Jack Ryder, and he got it.

The one guiding principle over my 23-year career in TV has been as long as I'm having fun, I really don't care what the job title is.

You take any job that comes along, and if you're really lucky, the movie takes off.

I'm just thinking I'm just like a normal actor who gets scripts, and I read them, and... if I enjoy reading them, then that's what's exciting, then I get excited about the audition or the project itself.

Most of stuff I audition for is stuff I think is socially relevant.

You have to keep persevering. An actor goes to a lot of auditions and doesn't get the part.

I'm delighted with how my career unfolded.

I tested on a lot of TV shows and films after I finished drama school.

I feel really fortunate that I've been given a lot of roles that were very different from each other. For me, variety is the key. I don't want to play the same thing over and over again.

'ER' was an all-consuming universe, but I don't have a single regret. It gave me some of the greatest friendships I have and afforded me one of the rarest commodities in an actor's life, which is the financial security to pick and choose jobs for factors besides the paycheck.

When I got the audition for 'Big Little Lies,' I knew this project was going to be different than anything I'd ever done. That didn't change the way I approached the role.

I think 99 percent of actors have gone through severe rejection before they ever landed a single role. I probably auditioned for 100 projects before I was cast in even the smallest role.