Professional Choices Quotes

I've seen many actors go awry by making the wrong choices early on.

When I was little, my parents really only wanted me to be a scientist or a doctor; they had never even heard of law school. I think even these days if you were to tell your mother you want to be a fashion designer, or an artist or a writer, a lot of Asian parents would be alarmed because they don't think that's a secure career.

I've been careful to work with good people on interesting material, mostly.

I've been fortunate in my career to have the opportunity to pick and choose the parts I play. I've also been lucky to always be involved with quality actors, quality directors, quality writers.

Here in England, my becoming an actor was considered unimaginative.

I'm quite sure there are other things that I could have done in life whether it's working for Humana, teaching in college, high school teacher. Coaching stuck.

I was told, 'Your career's made by what you don't do,' and that always stuck with me. I drive my agent mad!

In the '50s and '60s, a family's first child went into the priesthood, the second went into the military, and the third child was an idiot and wound up in advertising.

I felt that politics was one place where I could possibly have a career in arguing, debating, and getting to write papers. I almost considered working in law enforcement or something like that, but that didn't really last long.

My father and his brothers were all lawyers, so I think that the expectation was probably for me to grow up to be an attorney, but it never really fascinated me that much. I was more interested in building things.

If my dramatic career doesn't work out, I will go on to research and find cures for Alzheimer's or Parkinson's and other motor neuron diseases. It's a very exciting field of research. But I'd like to continue in drama, so it wouldn't be very smart of me if I blew this amazing opportunity with an inappropriate lifestyle.

I think if I had done anything else I would like to have been a doctor. This is the sort of polar opposition to being a writer, I suppose.

I think it's really important for artists in general to invest in themselves. And I view my schoolwork as something I'm investing in for me. And I'm my own product as an actor. There's a kind of career that I want, and I feel like I'm making choices to obtain that.

It's natural that you'd have more brains going into money management. There are so many huge incomes in money management and investment banking - it's like ants to sugar. There are huge incentives for a man to take up money management as opposed to, say, physics, and it's a lot easier.

Once 'Uyir' created a controversy, I had several offers coming my way with prominence to my character. However, I avoided them purposefully.

What I went through in personal life had a big impression on my professional choices.

I got roles from good production houses, though I wasn't keen on them, as I was asked to - and I won't - wear a bikini in a film. I'm not conservative, as I'd wear it on holidays, but definitely not in front of the camera. I have to think of my family.

I don't control the movies that are offered to me, but I make choices based on certain parameters.

My whole life, they said, 'Do not act. You need to get a college degree'.

Genuinely my big thing and the reason I'm in 'The Miser' is because I always ask myself one simple question when I'm offered anything: Will it get me nearer to being 'Doctor Who' or further away?

No, I don't regret any of the films that I did.

I thank God I'm in a position where I can pick and choose - there are some roles I don't play.

I take responsibility for everything in my life, including who I work for and what happens to me because of it.

I get better roles in television. I'm not going to do a lesser role just to be in a feature film.

I've never done nudity in my whole career. I certainly don't think now is the time to start. I don't think it's necessary for anything I've done, although I have absolutely no opinions against anyone who feels comfortable doing it.