Professional Survival Quotes

I do a film because I would love to be a part of it, but I also think from the audience's perspective. Our profession survives because of our audience.

A black woman's handbook in this industry is, 'Whoa.' The chapter on 'Don't go there.' The chapter on 'How to say that nicely,' how to express that you don't like something so that you don't lose the opportunity - which is what we're doing all day long.

When you are a beginning film maker you are desperate to survive. The most important thing in the end is survival and being able to get to your next picture.

Trust me: all of us walk around and look at each other, and without saying it, we all know we're thinking, 'Really dude? Were still here!' and pinch ourselves. Typically, careers have short life span, 10 years if you're lucky, so what we've done is amazing.

I always feel the need to work as if I don't have a deal, because that's what's going to keep me around for a long time.

A lot of actors in my age bracket look at being still standing as pretty good.

I've had a long career and I want to continue to have a long career. The way to do that is not to go away.

I have been passed over on some things because people didn't think I was edgy enough. But the people who took those gigs are gone now, and I am still here.

If there was no Internet, my career would have ended in 1995.

In Hollywood you just fail upwards.

Depending on the level you're at in your company, the higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance.

For an actor, it is better to play well (or even not so well) in a bad film, than to not play at all.

People know I am not blind or have super strength, yet they believed in my characters in 'Oppam' and 'Pulimurugan.' It's that belief of the audience that is also my greatest strength. Once that is gone, I might have to shut up shop and look for another job.

I try to cover myself, to have another movie under way before the last one comes out. I've been able to just scrape by, holding out for good parts instead of taking anything.

If your own fans didn't want you, there is no point to carry on working because you are going to damage first of all your company, your club.

It could be my downfall, but I don't think it is - Hollywood is run on perception, and if you stray off the path of what you want to do with your career, it's suicide.

You don't keep your job if you don't make a great show.

In the music business, to survive for so long, you have to be able to cut off from your emotions sometimes. And being a father, you're faced with that situation. I know that my father was, with me. I understand why he had to be distant, because to rip yourself away, time after time, is almost more devastating.

You have to have a strong sense of self in this business - otherwise they're going to spit you out.

How long an actress lives professionally depends on her stamina, the extent of her masochism, her imagination, and her yearning for recognition or approval.

Mentally, the only players who survive in the pros are the ones able to manage all their responsibilities. Everybody struggles in different ways.

Anyone who has a child today should train him to be either a physicist or a ballet dancer. Then he'll escape.

When a new CEO comes, make sure you send him a visiting card to say, 'Sir, I'm with you'.