Roger Allam Quotes

It's true you can end up as rich as Croesus but the thing I enjoy about acting is doing lots of different kinds of things.

Although just being employed as an actor is a big thing, I'm not sure I'd be satisfied playing the same character for 30 years; it's not why I want to do this for a living.

I always knew that I wanted to do voiceovers as part of my career. I just kind of didn't expect it to take off the way it did. I couldn't be happier. I love the chance to play so many different characters every day.

If I could have drawn a cat yelling for lasagna every day for 15 years and have them pay me $30 million to do so, I would have.

I've never done work for money ever. If your choices are based on grosses and the film doesn't do well, what does that mean? It leaves you with nothing.

Obviously, artists need to make money and stuff like that, but if you do something good or if you make good art or make good stuff, the wealth will find you in some way.

I think actors are divided into two groups: one that wants to be an actor to become famous and rich, and the other that wants to be an actor because they have to be. I'm more in the second group.

I prefer to have longevity. I like as great a variety as possible, hopefully to avoid getting stuck in one kind of character, having to do it over and over again. I seek to challenge myself as an actor - and at the same time support my family.

The payouts for starting a business are just terrible when you account for risk. A tiny minority of entrepreneurs ever get rich. And the majority of entrepreneurs would probably make far more money, and have more stable personal relationships, if they just worked for someone else.

I never sold any of my pieces. I had all the money I wanted. Then I would have lost my sculptures and just had more money.

There are many ways you can make money. Certain ways will make you happy, certain other ways will make other people happy. But if you go in because there's money in there, you're bound to fail, bound to fail!

I had to think ahead. How much would I really enjoy committing five or seven years to working on this? When you're an unemployed actor offered a TV pilot, no matter who you are you're tempted by the good hunk of change to be made. It keeps you out of the unemployment line.

When I speak to students and they ask how much money you can make in art, as if that is a reason to persue it, I tell them to do something else.

I think the death knell for any musician is getting a job that you like and pays enough that you just stay there forever.

Suddenly I had a contract and I was earning lots of money.

I'm not in this for the money because if I was, I would have jumped out after our first album.

I didn't want to give up my career. That's what kept me alive, kept me going. I couldn't stop - didn't want to stop - being all these different characters.

I wanted to build up a little nest egg and go back to L.A. and choose roles that I wanted to do instead of roles that I had to do to pay the bills.

I've had wonderfully lucrative offers to do another network series. I could do that again and have a very luscious retirement.

I've never chased fame. I came into this business to be a theatre actress. I was nine when I first appeared on stage. But I can't say I would turn my back on fortune. I'm someone who enjoys the benefits of money.

I want to end up like Judi Dench. I want to have nice consistent work, doing lovely things, no matter how big or small they might be. I'd like to turn into a wise old thing.

If I work 60 hours a week, for example, and I make much more money than someone who works 40 hours a week, is my standard of living higher? I suppose it depends on your values. If I do not have time, because I work 60 hours a week, to spend time with my children, I may not consider myself to have a high standard of living.

A lot of people just ask me about how I can do small budgets and big budgets, but many actors do both. I think the more self-destructive impulse I have is doing so many different characters.

The business has been good to me.

If 'Scandal' were to run for the rest of my career and prevent me from doing anything else, I would sign that contract this moment.