Patrick Whitesell Quotes

I did the whole struggling actor thing and lucked into being in the right place at the right time and getting involved in the first 'High School Musical.'

The music led to the acting. But movies aren't something you can just will yourself into. Someone has to choose you, and you have to be quite fortunate to be chosen.

Most child actors were lucky enough to get the part in the first place.

Almost everything I tried out for I pretty much got. I landed Power Rangers, and the rest is history.

Seems to me that this business, for actors anyway, is not so much about whether or not you do good work. It's about whether or not you get the chance to do good work.

So many actors who are really gifted and talented just don't get the opportunity. I happened to get that opportunity.

It's not like you do 'SNL' and then get handed movie roles. You work, you audition for stuff and try to get it. I think, a lot of people, it's the goal to be in movies or just to be working in general. But yeah, some of us get lucky and get some movie roles, and it's nice.

I always tell Asian actors, especially Filipinos wanting to break into Hollywood, to study, study and study and show their best. I haven't stopped studying. There's an abundance of roles, and all you have to do is prove to them that you are good for the role.

In the early days, I just got lucky. I would audition for everything and just happen to land in something pretty respectable, like 'Freaks and Geeks,' my first job, which was a complete fluke.

I've been very lucky. I wanted to be an actress, but I didn't really have the drive to sell myself. Fortunately I had a terrific agent in New York who kept me going from job to job.

I remember when I first came to Los Angeles being staggered by the range of roles open to me. These were leading parts in shiny new projects, and what always excited me was knowing there was a possibility that I could actually get these parts. I always had the impression that I had a chance.

Most people grow up dreaming of going to Hollywood and some of them work and work and work and finally end up in Hollywood.

My father is an actor, so he brought me into his agency when I was young. It wasn't something I wanted to do until high school, when I started taking theater and really liked it. Then an agent found me and wanted me to come out to Los Angeles and give it a shot. I gave myself six months, but it only took me like a week to get a job.

There are lots of actors out there who are hugely, hugely talented and haven't got the breaks I've had.

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.

Any actor who tells you that he makes choices, absolutely, is wrong. You find work and work finds you.

It's definitely an exciting time to be an actress.

But it's hard to sustain a successful acting career today.

You can't manufacture a career as an actor because you aren't in control of what projects come to you, unless you are No. 1, two, three or four in the world.

I was not a child star. I was more like a young auditioner.

Being an actor is a crazy way to spend one's life. It's the love of the game. Blind luck has a lot to do with it. Then you hope when you get your shot that you know what you're doing.

Before 'New Girl,' I had just been grinding in TV for a really long time. I had been testing for so many shows and not getting them. You don't know how difficult it is or how lucky you have to be - and I only say lucky because there are so many people out there - to get a show on the air and keep it going.

Had I pursued a film career in Los Angeles, I'm not sure I would have had the fortune that I've had.

I've managed to catch lightning in a bottle a couple times. I'm very lucky. But I want to do this forever. I enjoy it so much. One of the challenges as an actor is to stay relevant.

Becoming an actress was just about being in the right place at the right time.