"When I said I no longer wanted to be a painter, that I wanted to be an actor, the first thing I did was get a stinking job in an insurance building."

Actor, Building, First, Job

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"When I said I no longer wanted to be a painter, that I wanted to be an actor, the first thing I did was get a stinking job in an insurance building."

Exlpore more Actor quotes

"For a child actor, it's a matter of listening, reacting, and being able to put yourself in a new place without being scared."

Jena Malone, American Actress

Actor, Being, Listening

"The best research for playing a drunk is being a British actor for 20 years."

Michael Caine, English Actor

Actor, Being, Research, Years

"Directors, like actors, get typecast."

John Landis, American Actor

Actor, Actors

"What the Bleep Do We Know was not written with a deaf person in mind, but when they met me, it clicked with them to have me in it. But that happens with a lot of actors in Hollywood, not just with me."

Marlee Matlin, American Actress

Actor, Actors, Hollywood, Mind

"To my way of thinking, an actor's course is set even before he's out of the cradle."

James Dean, American Actor

Actor, Thinking

"Being a good actor isn't easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I'm done."

James Dean, American Actor

Actor, Being, Man, Want

"We've had no problems with the actors, but we keep a really loose set."

Peter Farrelly, American Director

Actor, Actors, Problems

"Being a working actor, you're going to do a Spelling show. It's hard not to."

Casper Van Dien, American Actor

Actor, Being, Spelling

"Actors are able to trick themselves into treating anything as if it's fantastic. It's a kind of madness really."

Tom Baker, British Actor

Actor, Actors, Madness

"I had read the novel and I had heard David Lean was going to direct it - and it came as a surprise to me because American actors, if given the chance, can do style as well as anybody and speak as well as anybody."

Rod Steiger, American Actor

Actor, Actors, Chance, Style

Explore more quotes by Rod Taylor

"To a large degree, those early lean days were self-imposed."

Self

"I did well as an actor in Australia, and then Paramount invited me over... to have a look at me."

Actor

"Dore Schary was then head of the studio and he wanted to change my name."

Change

"I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist, so that if all goes well, I may one day sit beside them."

Wisdom

"Art doesn't feed me or fill the void when I am not working. If I haven't worked for six months, I can't paint."

Art

"Apart from being interested in a good role, I think it's necessary to make up your mind as to whether it will make a movie that will entertain an audience all over the world and not just in your own backyard."

Being

"Acting doesn't suffice."

Acting

"When people think it's successful, I'm grateful. When they don't - OK, I'll try again."

People

"The most important thing in my life is my work."

Life

"In the beginning I had a real work problem. Every time I had job I had to convince the immigration authorities I was the only man for that job and get a special work permit until I went under contract to MGM."

Time