Michael B. Jordan Quotes

As actors, it's so hard to get your hopes up about anything.

You just have to go to bat and take a swing. And if you're not right for a part, or it goes to a British man, they may remember that you showed up, knew your lines and were good. And maybe they'll call you in for something else.

Unless you have a real passion for making movies, then don't bother. I had to carry energy and light into every meeting, only to be told, 'We don't want you.' I couldn't take it personally. You just have to wait, and live for those moments when the casting director likes you.

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.

In L.A., you constantly go on auditions, and you're usually not what they're looking for - you get used to going back and back to the same show, and nothing happens.

I think I'm an actor. You can hire me. I can do a good job. But you also have to get lucky now and then. Every film-maker knows how hard it is to do a good film. You have to just make many, and see how lucky you get.

My auditions for drama school were miserable, but one thing I had on my side, although I had no experience or skill or training, was that I wanted to learn everything.

Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better. But don't be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying.

I'm an actor, and I think some of us who are drawn to this work know what it is to desperately want to be loved and validated: to be good at something and not be able to do it; to come in second on countless projects; or told that you were the first choice, but the part went to that guy who had that TV show in the '90s.

You're rejected 10 to 20 times for every part you are going to get.

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

You have to accept that when you don't get the part, it's to do with all sorts of reasons completely beyond your control, unless you know it's because you weren't prepared.

There are more things to worry about in the world than a messed-up audition. It's out of your hands. So often, it's not down to acting abilities but something an actor has no control over. So go in, be prepared, do your job, and go and enjoy the rest of your day.

When I started acting, I was told over and over again, 'You're no good.' But I said to myself, 'You've got to keep it up.'

We have tried you good people of the public and we have found you wanting.

There was a period where I stopped auditioning because I was like, 'I don't have the heart.' There's just so much rejection.

Like, even going to Duke Ellington School of the Arts, like, they slept on me. I think they thought I was talented, but for whatever reason, they didn't want to give me a lot of solos or any type of just love like that. But I don't know. I think that's what encouraged me to grind so hard.

After my WWE tryout in 2014, I thought for sure that I was going to get signed and that it is finally happening and that I was going to finally be there. Then, when it didn't happen I was heartbroken. I always think it is because God had a plan for me.

I try not to want any one specific thing to happen because that's then bound to probably not happen. Particularly in Hollywood, I try not to set my hopes on anything.

What drew me into being an actor was that I never got cast in the school plays - and it used to kill me.

I want a career and the thing is you really have to love acting. I didn't just fall into it and it wasn't just something I was good at. I've had to really work at this. I've had to fall on my face time and time again. You get 'no' 99 per cent of the time and a 'yes' just once.

Well, it might have been if I'd had success earlier in life, but having success that much later meant I was far more grounded when it came. The last few years of my life have just been surreal and after a lifetime of disappointment and heartache and rejection, I still don't believe this is all actually happening. I'm extremely grateful for my success - I just never expect it to last and my motto, if I have one, is just put your head down and do the job.

When I was going into acting, my mom said, "You can't let that faze you. And if it does faze you, if you start getting upset if people say no, that's it - pull the plug."

After rejection - misery, then thoughts of revenge, and finally, oh well, another try elsewhere.

I remember when I started acting and didn't get a part and was really jealous of the girl who got it. My mom would say to me, "If you don't get a part, that means it's not your part. It's just not yours. You will have your parts." It really recalibrated me at a very young age to where I could be driven because I was trying to achieve things for myself, and that had nothing to do with what anybody else was doing.