Owning a bookstore was right up there with acting in life goals, but other than swaggering around the store, I'm not much use.
I was always explaining why my term papers were never on time. I think that's where I got my acting training!
I've been building a future for myself outside of acting.
Acting is reacting, and it's always easier to react when someone is doing a good job.
Acting on stage is a living organism you can never pin down, and I believe the audience feeds off that, too.
Acting while I'm singing just kind of happened because I'm a hambone at heart, I guess. And I'm a Gemini - I've got several personalities to access as an actor.
Most of my friends all tend to work in restaurants part time, doing acting classes on the side.
The acting world is a humbling experience, I find.
I couldn't pick up a sword and go fight anyone, let me put it that way. It's choreography and it's acting. The best sword fights you see look amazing, but it's the acting that sells it more than anything.
With acting, I always felt like I didn't have control of it. It was all about other people giving me a job.
I see society as something dangerous, and you have to save yourself from the rules. I think acting is the way I save myself.
Acting is wonderful therapy for people. Instead of suffering for yourself, someone will do it for you.
I directed a short series for Hulu called 'Paloma,' and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting. It gave me a new bolt of energy in terms of my interest in filmmaking because it made me realize how collaborative filmmaking can be and also that you're not just limited to one job.
I was 18 when I got my first acting job.
Singing and acting are actually very similar things. Anyone can sing and anyone can be a film actor. All you have to do is learn.
For me, acting is like a therapy. I can express myself fully when I am acting and have blood in my veins. Even when I'm not working, I'm always living in my own world, imagining characters.
I used to do school plays. I never really took any acting classes. I'm just a natural ham, I guess.
My experiences and training back at drama school were very enlightening. I always believe in improving, be it kathak or my acting skills, and would want to experiment more when it comes to work.
I would rather give up acting than become world famous, because I think you pay a very high price. Writing and putting new plays out into the world has informed what I do, and I've had a lot more freedom to play really interesting parts.
With acting, you can find a way to make it interesting for yourself, if nobody else - even on big-budget films. But you're very much on your own.
For me, acting is like a holiday. When you're directing, you have a strong sense of responsibility for others. It's exciting but exhausting, especially when you're like me: always wanting to break the rules.
A lot of people don't realize, when you are acting in a martial arts film, you're not just performing martial arts. You're not just performing martial arts. You're actually acting as much as any other actor.
When I first started acting, everyone in my family did not want me to act.
Reading scripts or commercial copy isn't a problem for me, so I can really focus on the acting instead of it being secondary.
When I stopped playing hockey and started acting, the last person I was going to ask for help was my dad. He's the king of being like, 'I don't know. It's good work if you can get it. Good luck.'
I sort of make believe. That's why I like acting. You can create or imagine anything.
There is work, and there is pleasure; acting is pleasure.
Working with a full Hollywood team has been an awesome learning experience, and I definitely want to pursue acting more.
What I would say to a person who is firm in their faith and wants to go into an acting career: It is such a difficult thing to do without compromising your beliefs.
My dad signed me up for some acting classes at a place in Honolulu, and there I got to audition for some L.A.-based talent agents. I got a few 'callbacks' and so my mom and I decided to fly to California and check it out!
Today's kids have a mind of their own, and they know how to exercise it. Even if I wanted to tell Sara or my son Ibrahim how to lead their lives - which I don't - they would not listen to me. Luckily, Sara chose to complete her studies before pursuing acting. She attended Columbia University and then devoted her attention to Bollywood.
Sometimes I think I don't want to grow old as an actress and deal with the fact that I'm getting less jobs 'cause my face is changing, and then the men... But at the same time, I'm pretty competitive. I don't know if I'd bow out. I might still be acting when I'm in a wheelchair.
Acting never was about the money for me... Maybe in 10 years, I'll be able to appreciate the fact that I am financially stable and independent and I don't have to make bad choices. I can be very picky.
Once I moved to Chicago and started trying to get acting jobs, I just tended to book more things that were comedically based than anything else. I never had the preconceived notion, 'I will be a comedic actor.' I just thought, 'I'll go into acting and see what kind of work I can get.'
Because I came to acting quite late, I kind of think one of the few attributes that I do have is that I try to be honest with the character, with the writing. I'm not a tricksy actor; I'm not exactly a scenery-chewing kind of actor.
I just tried to create a life for myself that's full of fun and fantasy and things that equal laughter. My life's been cartoons and comedy and acting, and it's just been a fun life, man.
