Sam Neill Quotes

As a child, I always wanted to be an actor. But as I grew older, the acting dream kind of faded away, and I took to studying a lot. A few years later, a relative of mine who really wanted me to try my hand at acting sent my photographs to a few production houses, and like they say, the rest is history.

I wanted to be a serious actress rather than a pretty face.

I didn't want to do film or commercials or television.

My chosen occupation isn't necessarily movie star; I see my chosen occupation as actor.

I didn't start out to be a movie star. I started out to be an actor.

I didn't picture myself as a movie actress. I began to think about it around college. I remember thinking, 'Well somebody has to be in them,' so maybe I could do that eventually. It's all been a surprise.

I can be in 20 movies. But I'll never be an actor.

I always knew I'd be an actor. I always knew I'd at least be on a big screen somewhere.

It never occurred to me that I'd be on a television show or in feature films but when those came into play my dreams changed along the way.

I'd like to be a steadily working actor and to do as many things as possible. I'm really enjoying the life.

I auditioned for 'Spider-Man.' I auditioned for 'Han Solo,' all those big movies. I would love to do something like that.

I had not grown up on theater - in Hughes, Ark., you went to see a movie on Saturday. So my acting heroes were movie stars. It was a natural thing for me to want to get into the movies.

I thought actors were born in Hollywood. I didn't know how to go about it.

For me to get a lead role in a real movie is something to jump at. It's not like I get to do that all of the time.

I think it just seems like something that somebody else does, like they raise actors somewhere in Ohio, and once in a while, people go and pick their actors and move to Hollywood. It seemed like such a distant idea. But then, as I started growing up, I'm like, 'Oh, this is an occupation.'

I didn't really think about being a movie star. I was more about theater.

I actually never wanted to be a VJ. Never. It just so happened that I became a VJ, and I was actually kind of like, 'I don't want to be a VJ. I want to be in the movies.' So yeah, I always wanted to be an actor.

Though I love cinema, I had never thought of becoming an actress.

Acting is a career where you keep learning with every film you do.

Never, never in my life did I have it in my mind to become an actress or be part of a film.

I am an accidental actor.

Doing films as an actor, you spend maybe 40 percent of the year doing your chosen profession. If you are on a successful TV show, you spend 80 percent of your year doing the thing you love.

Um, I think every role, whether in TV or film, has a part in building a career and relationships.

Ninety-eight per cent of actors who actually make a living do so in front of a camera.

Thank God for television. I've been able to consistently work in television even when people say, 'Oh my God, I haven't seen you since this film or that project.' At least I'm working. It's very difficult to get that next movie role. I'm grateful to have the television world accept me.