Breaking Into the Industry Quotes

One of the tough things about being an actor, probably the hardest thing, is getting your foot in the door, and my father handled that for me at a very early age.

When I was young, I used to tell my mum that she had to get me on the TV, but then modelling just sort of happened.

I hung onto Hollywood by the skin of my teeth, and at first I fought over every piece of bread. Later, I got very small parts.

A lot of actresses start out modeling because it's a great way to sort of get your foot in the door. That's all it is, though. They open the door, and you have to walk through it.

When I moved to L.A. and had my first meeting with my agents, they asked me what I wanted for my career. And I didn't speak English at the time, but I did say, 'I wanna be Ryan Gosling as a woman.' So I got very excited to play opposite him.

When I came to Mumbai, I didn't know a soul. The only person I knew was an assistant director, which, everyone agrees, is the lowest form of life on the set. So, it was not a great contact to have. So, I knew from day one that I wasn't going to be launched opposite a superstar.

A lot of people know that how I came to become an actor, but not many people know that how hard it was for me in those initial years. Being an outsider, I had no insight about the ways of the craft.

The first eight years in Mumbai were specially tough. I knew during the first two months of my stay that there's no point waiting for hours to meet producers. They won't meet you and definitely won't give you a role.

I try to search for roles where the character is not dependent on how she looks, but it is hard because I didn't know anyone in this industry, so I started as an extra and fought.

To be honest I never thought the acting thing would get off the ground.

When I realized that you can't necessarily be cast in a really great part living in Austin, even when Hollywood comes to town, I got a demo reel together and headed out west.

I just remember when I came out of film school - and I loved film school - that the industry was such a mystery. How to break in, and once you are in, how to make a film; that is such a large undertaking. There are thousands of pitfalls.

I've been acting since I was 15 years old professionally, and I've never been asked on the 'TODAY' show or anything like that. And now here I am on the 'TODAY' show, it's bizarre!

You've got to pay the bills, and you want to get your foot in. The great shows usually aren't going to look for somebody completely untested, so you have to kind of get your feet wet doing other shows.

With wrestling, everybody always asks what they can do to get signed or how can they get over. There's no right or wrong answers. That's why I think the best thing you can do is be yourself.

I was on 'The O.C.' and had a small part, which wasn't very challenging. I was a bit bored, so I started shadowing directors and they finally gave me a shot. From there, it led to directing other television shows. I am trying to direct a feature film, so we'll see what happens.

When I came to the industry, I didn't know how to meet people, how to tell them that I'm good enough and how to get my first break. It was trial and error for us.

It's a lot of people's goal to be the lead in a movie, and that was never my goal. I just wanted to be the third banana in an ensemble comedy.

I'd retired for about six or seven years. Coming back to the business, I found that I was sort of not quite a has-been, and it wasn't a new career, it was just kind of difficult to crack the nut, so to speak.

The way you get your script to the right people is that you put it in an envelope. It's easy. The difficult bit is writing something that is so good people will take a punt on a brand new writer.

Everybody's story of getting into the industry is just as difficult as the next person. Whether you come from money or no money, it's not easy... you have to offer yourself; you can't expect someone to get you.

I graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and I got the opportunity to take some on-camera classes while I was in school and met a casting director who informed me quite a bit before my move out to L.A.; it made L.A. feel possible, coming from Oklahoma and not having a family that was in the industry.

When I got out of college, I booked a movie called 'Go for It!' with Lionsgate, came out here, and I've been acting ever since - or trying, constantly trying.

I always had an interest in wanting to act, but my family wasn't in the entertainment industry at all, and we didn't know anyone. We didn't really even know how you begin to crack that nut.

I didn't have any godfather in the industry and had to prove myself with each film.