Aspiring Actors Quotes

You can't be an actor in a small town-you have to go to New York or L.A.

I was 14, when I wanted to be an actor. My parents were basically like, "This is a very hard life, and you have to be really serious about it, and show us that you're serious about it. You can't drop out of school." They strongly encouraged me not to act professionally until I finished college, which I didn't. And I think they should have been horrified! It's a really hard life. I'd be really scared if I had a child who wanted to be an actor.

Living in L.A., I was embarrassed to say that I wanted to be an actor.

When I moved to Los Angeles to be on the radio, there was an acting school on every corner. You can't be in L.A. and not be into acting.

Experience tells us that whereas that degree of recognition can happen for one or two actors, for the vast majority it doesn't, so what matters is to try and be a better actor.

I thought I would be a dramatic actor - everyone starts that way.

Everyone has a different path. I knew no one in the acting industry growing up. I never did a play until college. I was not outspoken when I was younger and I hated being the center of attention. But I had a dream of being an actor. I went to NYU and studied theatre. I learned a craft. And began my career straight out of college.

I remember when I first moved to L.A. from Michigan when I was 11 years old and I walked down the Walk of Fame and looked at the hand and foot prints of the stars and it was the coolest thing. And I never thought that mine would actually be there one day, so when it happened it was so surreal and such an honor

I remember when I first wanted to act my parents were supportive, but it was that they were like please, if you can find something else in the world, don't do this. So it wasn't even they're like 'Oh we've been waiting for you to arrive, welcome to the family business' kind of thing.

When I'm in Los Angeles, sometimes I hesitate saying that I'm an actor because people are like, 'Of course you are.' And I'm like 'No,' not, 'Of course I am.' In L.A., being an actor is like a pastime: everybody there is like, 'I was on this reality show; I'm an actor.' It becomes a word that is loosely thrown around.

I feel like people who come out to Los Angeles hoping to be an actor give up too easily, and/or they don't put in the amount of time that it really does take.

People ask, 'What's the best role you've ever played?' The next one.

I always wanted to act, but never thought of it as something serious to do.

I get them [auditions] from time to time, and I sometimes get auditions for big dramas, and I often think, well, I'm not going to get that part. This was a big surprise - it was The X-Files.

My mum sent me to an open audition for 'Notes On A Scandal' so I could see quite how many other girls wanted to do this. And I queued up, and I got the job. That was my first-ever audition, and my second was 'Atonement.'

I can remember when I first got to los Angeles . I didn't have a car, I didn't have any money. I was walking the streets, you know, trying to get from place to place on foot almost. Sometimes, you know, you say, how am I ever going to get from here to there? There are a lot of people still having that dream and not being able to get there. So you never know. The idea is to keep on tap dancing, though.

The film industry is like Anne Robinsonalways on the look-out for a new face

A lot of kids think they can just go to Hollywood and become an actor or actress. It's not that easy. There are millions of kids who come out here wanting to act. So, you have to have a plan, and you have to stick with that plan, because it's not going to be easy by any means.

The sorrow of not being movie stars overwhelms millions.

Hollywood is a cottage industry involving a very small number of people, and around the edges are enormous numbers of people trying to get into it and work.

I remember we would get young, aspiring actors to come on '77 Sunset Strip' - I remember George Kennedy was one of those - and they would do a big guest star part, a lead, and they'd be paid maybe $850.

I have so many really gifted friends, actors who I thought deserved as much as I did to get an agent or a job, or deserved more, and just never made it through somehow. I've always been really fiercely tethered to that. You know, I've been very lucky. All the filmmakers I've worked with have taken my desire to educate myself very seriously.

I do think it's true that anytime somebody comes to you and says, "I'd like to be in your film," it's never good to dismiss them or make fun of them, because if they're passionate and driven enough, they very well might find a way to be in your film.

L.A. is this huge epicenter of the most popular person. Can you imagine, every single high school in the world where someone says, "You're so beautiful, you could be a movie star," all of those one people move to this town called L.A.

When I was at drama school, I remember going to Amsterdam for new year and sitting with friends on the front of a P&O ferry in the wind, having some sort of 'Titanic' moment, declaring ourselves to be the new kings of theatre.