Diversifying Roles Quotes

The genres are widening. I don't think that there's as many limitations on the kinds of projects that actors can do as there once was.

I don't mind being stereotyped in some way and playing certain kinds of guys, but if I can find something to occasionally get a break from that, that would be nice. And I feel like I manage to.

I didn't want to take the typical action roles that everybody was expecting me to take, because I was going to get typecast as that guy, the action guy who didn't have anything really bright to say and who just kicked in doors and punched people in the face and shot people and drove off in a cool car. I didn't want to be that guy.

Certainly, I look for different characters 'cause I always like to keep people guessing, and I also don't like to get typecast.

As an actor, you get hired for what you last did. And I guess it just becomes your choice or obligation to do different things.

Having been Scully for such a long time, I have to prove myself in other roles.

I understand that, being born with a certain face, people want to see me in certain roles. But one needs to break that image by doing different kinds of films.

I never in a million years thought I would be starring in Hairspray, ever. Because if you think about my past, it's been 30 years of playing a macho leading man, so when I was offered it, I said: "Why? Why me? What have I done to deserve that you think I should do this?" After much convincing, over a year and two months, I was convinced they wanted to make a great movie.

I want to try something different in Hollywood, to tell the audience I am not just an actor star - I am an actor, too.

If you're an actor, a hard thing is to stick around, to stay viable. I try to do that by taking the opportunity to do something different every once in awhile.

I just happened to have enough time to be able to take other parts between those first few Twilight films. But it wasn't about proving to people that I had something else to give.

After the release of 'Ashta Chemm,' several producers and directors came with similar roles in their films. But I doesn't want to do stereo type roles and do something different for each film, and refused them.

I have been successful in comic roles and people think that is all that I can do.

I feel that in order to truly be an actor, you have to differentiate yourself and your roles, and you have to constantly challenge yourself. I'm not interested in just doing glitzy movie after glitzy movie and being on the cover of Us Weekly every day.

How do you top 'Mormon?' I get sent scripts all the time and I don't know what I would do next. What do you do after that? So I think if you do see me onstage, you'll see me in something dramatic, maybe, or you'll see me try my hand at something else. Perhaps fail, terribly, but try.

When you become an actor, you never, ever imagine you're going to be working on one role for a decade, and while it is such a blessing to get the opportunity to do that, it's also nice to do something different.

I'm going to continue to try to strike a balance, because I really, really do love doing stand-up, and I don't see why it should affect the acting. And again, I'm not going, "I've got to become a dramatic actor now." I just want more interesting jobs. I just want to keep doing stuff that's different.

I don't worry too much about typecasting. I just figure, one way or another, I'm going to find another role.

My philosophy has always been to try to put myself into roles and films that are different. That intensified after 'Lord of the Rings' because it was so massive, but it's something I've always believed in - wanting to change people's perceptions and challenge myself as an actor.

There's this little box that African-American actors have to work in, in the first place, and I was able to rise above that box. I could have done a bunch of movies where I stayed as the Axel Foley or Reggie Hammond persona. But I didn't want to be doing the same thing all the time. Every now and then, you crash and burn, but that's part of it.

I was trying to find ways of not being pigeon-holed like that. I didn't want to be tied down by my accent. I wanted to play Americans. I don't want to ever be doing the same thing twice, and I just didn't want to repeat myself.

For actors coming out of long-running soaps, it's really important to have a little break from the screen and look for roles that are removed from the ones they have played.

It's definitely been a conscious decision to seek out roles that are different, in any way, from anything that I've done, just to prove to myself that I can do it and to challenge myself. If I can, then great, it will open up those doors and just prove to other directors and peers that I am, in fact, available for things other than comedy.

It's a difficult thing as an actor not to repeat one's self.

After you've done 60-something movies, you're always looking for something different.