Jane Lynch Quotes

I do feel that softness for the vulnerability and the innocence in our world, including my own.

- Jane Lynch

World, Innocence, Including, Our World

I like for Sue Sylvester to be firing on all cylinders.

- Jane Lynch

Like, Firing, Cylinders, Sue

So much of Sue Sylvester, the angry woman, came from that part of my life, wanting to crush other people's dreams and judging others so harshly, which is always just a way of deflecting your own self-judgment.

- Jane Lynch

My Life, Other, Wanting, Sue

I think my cruelty hides beneath the surface a lot more than Sue Sylvester's.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Beneath, I Think, Sue

I get the male thing. I like being that for a woman. But I also like being a woman, too. I like being girly.

- Jane Lynch

Woman, Like, Too, Girly

Making people laugh is a really fabulous thing because it means you're getting deep inside somebody, into their psyche, and their ability to look at themselves.

- Jane Lynch

Deep, Making, Means, Psyche

To this day, I still would choose the angst over something easier, when I really don't have to.

- Jane Lynch

Choose, Over, Still, Angst

I was filled with angst all the time, but when it came down to it, I dove into what was in front of me, and I always did my best. I invested 100 percent. And that's what saved me.

- Jane Lynch

Saved, Always, Filled, Angst

When I'm not feeling good about how I look, I figure if I just buy the right piece of clothing, I'll feel all right.

- Jane Lynch

Buy, About, Figure, Clothing

I was a huge 'Friends' fan. I had a very small part. I played a real-estate agent in the very last season.

- Jane Lynch

Small, Very, Real-Estate, Small Part

I can be kind of razor sharp in my disapproval.

- Jane Lynch

Be Kind, Kind, Razor, Disapproval

I'm kind of a 'Fix-It Felix' video girl. I like the simpler, sweeter kind of games.

- Jane Lynch

Kind, Like, Sweeter, Simpler

I love James Taylor and Carole King, Joni Mitchell - this is, like, early '70s stuff. I love the stuff from the '40s. I love that tight harmony that the studio singers in the '50s would sing. I love Patsy Cline. Yeah, I'm all over the place.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Harmony, Studio, None

I love Matt LeBlanc in 'Episodes' - he's very good. And the 'Modern Family' cast just cracks me up.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Very, Modern Family, Matt

You know 'Ninotchka?' I recommend it. It's kind of a mess, too. It was before, you know, we got slick editing tools, so it kind of chops along.

- Jane Lynch

Kind, Before, Recommend, Chops

I've never really had specific goals and stuff like that - I think I sort of learned early on that if you kind of let life roll in at your feet, you will get a lot of great stuff if you are just aware and open to it.

- Jane Lynch

Feet, I Think, Roll, Great Stuff

I was not the kid that hung out at the arcade.

- Jane Lynch

Kid, Arcade, Out, Hung

I've had days here and there where I would get discouraged because I wasn't a big star, but I've made a living ever since I was 27. Not a great living, but enough for me. I think actually being able to pay my rent and eat and perform is enough, and I did that for many years. Then I had some good years in there, too, where I made pretty good money.

- Jane Lynch

Big, Here, Some, Discouraged

Television is really fertile ground, and it's because of platforms like Netflix and Hulu and, of course, the cable channels like HBO and Showtime.

- Jane Lynch

Television, Like, Hulu, HBO

I became quite a diva, and intolerant, and people knew when I was not pleased. Some people were afraid of me, and other people just kind of blew me off. But I wasn't making any friends. I only had one person who remained my friend, and he was my boyfriend for a while. Even though I told him I was gay, he was like, 'That's alright.'

- Jane Lynch

Some, Other, Became, Blew

That weird dark energy - when I was a kid, I didn't know what it was. I just had to 'thrash it out,' as my mother called it. I became quite intolerable, creatively and artistically, with other people. I wanted nothing more than to be part of a group, and yet I couldn't help alienating people.

- Jane Lynch

Kid, Other, Became, Intolerable

It's always a good idea to go up for the male roles. You go up against a bunch of beefy guys, and the casting director then feels smart for taking you on, like he's the one who thought outside the box.

- Jane Lynch

Thought, Idea, Feels, Casting

No one's just going to hand you a career. I waited for years for someone to hand me one and it never happened.

- Jane Lynch

Career, Years, Going, Waited

I loved working with Cybill Shepherd. We had a good time together; we enjoyed being girlfriends. It was a real comfortable fit for us. I loved putting on a suit and tie.

- Jane Lynch

Had, Being, Putting, Shepherd

I've just always loved singing, and I come from a family that loves singing around the kitchen table.

- Jane Lynch

Singing, Always, Loves, Kitchen Table

A lot of the songs in 'See Jane Sing!' are pulled straight from the kitchen table and my parents harmonizing together.

- Jane Lynch

Straight, Pulled, Lot, Kitchen Table

I have a big family. Even though it's only three kids in our family, it's always aunts and uncles and the whole thing.

- Jane Lynch

Big, Always, Though, Aunts

I never went through a biological clock experience. I never even heard it ticking.

- Jane Lynch

Never, Through, Ticking, Biological

There I was as a kid: a closeted homosexual who wants to be an actress. I had no choice! Wanting to act was something I was wired with when I was born. I never thought I would have success or celebrity, although I did want that. But what I wanted more than anything was to work.

- Jane Lynch

Celebrity, Wanting, Wired, Homosexual

I grew up in a Southside suburb of Chicago. It was idyllic. But I was plunked into a family that was not artistic and didn't know how to deal with my emotions.

- Jane Lynch

Emotions, Deal, Artistic, Suburb

When I was a kid, we would get McDonalds on Christmas Eve, and that was a big deal because the closest one to the south side of Chicago was a 35 minute drive away. I remember opening the bag and smelling those fries, and even now when I smell them, it reminds me of Christmas Eve.

- Jane Lynch

Big, I Remember, Deal, Closest

I love that there are all these macho guy actors out there that have secret desires to be on 'Glee.'

- Jane Lynch

Love, Guy, Desires, Glee

I try to dress the bottom I have. The body I have and the bottom I have. I have the intention of looking fabulous every time, and I care about it a great deal. I'm very vain.

- Jane Lynch

Dress, Deal, Very, Every Time

We're all conditioned to think we have to get to the top and be the best.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Top, Get, Conditioned

I love doing sketches, but I don't relish being by myself. That's not something I'm used to doing.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Myself, Doing, Relish

When you get out of school, you just go where the wind blows: Here's an audition; there's an audition. And before you know it, you're where you're supposed to be. And that was Second City.

- Jane Lynch

Here, Audition, Before, Wind

I watch very selective television. I watch 'Mad Men,' and I usually watch a season at a time.

- Jane Lynch

Mad, Very, Selective, Season

When you raise your voice in song to express what's going on deep inside of you, I think people just react to that because it's so truthful. It's so raw.

- Jane Lynch

Voice, Song, Think, Truthful

It has to come from a truthful place in order to be funny.

- Jane Lynch

Funny, Place, Come, Truthful

I'm not out to conquer anything, which I think is a good thing. That's why I also think crazy, different things come my way. I really don't have an agenda, and I'm really happy not to have one. I'm just keeping it light.

- Jane Lynch

Happy, Why, I Think, Different Things

I'd drop whatever I was doing to show up to do the graveyard shift of 'America's Shopping Place.'

- Jane Lynch

Doing, Drop, Graveyard, Shopping

I could be pretty volatile, especially when I didn't feel understood, which was 99 percent of the time. I do think that, as a young person, I suffered over that. But as I look back, it doesn't even feel like part of me - except when I act and need those emotions. Then I can dredge it up.

- Jane Lynch

Young, Feel, Part, Understood

I love the character I played in 'Criminal Minds.'

- Jane Lynch

Love, Character, Minds, Criminal

I did voice work for many years before I started having success as an actress. It was mostly radio and television voiceover work, but I know my way around the studio. I know how to use the cappuccino machines and the headphones.

- Jane Lynch

Voice, Studio, Mostly, Machines

I'm a character actress, and my particular brand is more mature, so I had to wait until my age caught up with the tricks in my little arsenal.

- Jane Lynch

Wait, Caught, Actress, Arsenal

I've never been a cheerleader. It's so outside of my range of things I could ever do.

- Jane Lynch

Been, Could, Range, Cheerleader

I think the only way we can really get you to laugh hard is if we take it to a deep psychological place. It has to resonate with you on a really deep level in order for you to really do that good guffaw.

- Jane Lynch

Deep, Think, I Think, Laugh

I think about Chicago as being a very actor-centered theater town, and people aren't in it to get to the next level, like movies and television. We're there for the love of the theater. So I think it fit right into my particular skill set, which is I love performing live.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Next, Very, Next Level

I had friendships with two people in my life who, when I attempted to do my habitual behavior of building a case to break up with them, wouldn't allow me to do it. They both said to me, 'I'm not going anywhere.' And that moved me so deeply.

- Jane Lynch

My Life, Allow, Habitual, Attempted

I think humor is such a personal thing, and you put a microphone in somebody's face, they're going to say something that offends somebody.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Going, I Think, Microphone

I worried too much when I was a kid.

- Jane Lynch

Too Much, Kid, Too, Worried

I'm fascinated by Greta Garbo. My cat's named Greta, and I have a framed photograph of her from 1949.

- Jane Lynch

Her, Named, Fascinated, Framed

I auditioned for a one-act version of 'The Princess and the Pea' called 'The Ugly Duckling,' and I was cast as the King, starting a pattern of being cast in roles originally intended for men. I went to the first rehearsal, and I didn't get any laughs, and I choked and I quit. I walked away from it and joined the tennis team.

- Jane Lynch

Pattern, Away, Roles, I Quit

But now that I've matured, I've realized that - at the end of the day - what's really important is the work, not what people think of me.

- Jane Lynch

Work, End Of The Day, Think, Matured

I wanted to - any chance I had to dress up as a boy, like Halloween, I would be a pirate or a ghost that wore a tie. A hobo.

- Jane Lynch

Dress, Chance, Pirate, Ghost

I didn't want to be gay. I wanted to be... I wanted an easy life. And you know what? I am gay, and I still have an easy life.

- Jane Lynch

I Am, Still, Wanted, Gay

It was my own internalised homophobia. I didn't want to be gay.

- Jane Lynch

Want, Own, My Own, Gay

There are still parts of the country where it's hard: when you realize you're gay, it's like a death sentence.

- Jane Lynch

Country, Sentence, Still, Gay

My brother was listening to his transistor radio. He kept switching the earpiece from one ear to the other, which I thought was his idea of a joke. 'You can't do that,' I said. 'You can only hear out of one ear.' 'No, I can hear out of both,' he answered. And that was how I discovered I was deaf in my right ear.

- Jane Lynch

Other, Discovered, Switching, Hear

I love Jennifer Saunders, the 'Absolutely Fabulous' creator.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Creator, I Love, Fabulous

In Chicago, actors start up companies and get together and produce things, and there's a really rich, vibrant non-Equity theater scene out there.

- Jane Lynch

Start, Get Together, Vibrant, Chicago

I've been in Chicago for every Christmas of my life.

- Jane Lynch

My Life, Been, Every, Chicago

I think that network TV is going to either have to reinvent itself or it's going to have to be more competitive - there are just so many options now with streaming and everything.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Reinvent, TV, Options

I always ended up having the funny part in Shakespeare, but I really thought I'd be doing theater. That was my ambition for myself.

- Jane Lynch

Doing, Always, Having, Shakespeare

Standing by myself, just having everybody looking at me the entire time, is not my idea of a good time.

- Jane Lynch

Idea, Everybody, Having, Good Time

My first love, in my head, believe it or not, was Ron Howard.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Head, Ron, First Love

It's so amazing that you can give somebody like David Fincher 'House of Cards,' and he can do whatever he wants - Netflix doesn't say, 'Oh, you can't do that,' or, 'We need a subplot here about this.' It's pretty neat that it is allowing the creatives to be creative.

- Jane Lynch

Cards, Here, About, House Of Cards

I'm kind of a manic exerciser. I'll like exercise for a week and be crazy, and then I won't do it for six months.

- Jane Lynch

Week, Six, Months, Manic

Will Ferrell in 'Talladega Nights.' He's a very generous performer. He's kind of just one of the guys, but his name happens to be above the title.

- Jane Lynch

Will, Performer, Very, Nights

There's this weird kind of coming-in-from-left-field thing going on, and I love it - I am a huge fan of Christopher Durang.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Kind, Going, Huge Fan

I stopped watching television like a fiend once I got into college.

- Jane Lynch

College, Like, Stopped, Fiend

I go to coffee shops for my outlet. Which is just not healthy at all.

- Jane Lynch

Coffee, Healthy, Which, Outlet

'Zoolander.' Yeah, I mean, I love Ben Stiller; he's just a brilliant guy. And I love Will Ferrell in it, too. His character, to me, is just insane, and he made such huge choices, and he's such a weirdo!

- Jane Lynch

Love, Guy, Ben, None

Charlie Sheen was such a pro.

- Jane Lynch

Charlie Sheen, Pro, Charlie, Sheen

I would love to do the therapist on 'Two and a Half Men' again or just work with Charlie Sheen.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Work, Half, Sheen

I don't wear particular designers. I wear whoever fits me well.

- Jane Lynch

Wear, Designers, Whoever, Particular

If you're contriving something, if you're making something up, it's not funny. You can tell. It's instant. It has to come from someplace real.

- Jane Lynch

Tell, Making, Come, Someplace

The funniest people are usually the best actors, I believe.

- Jane Lynch

Best, People, Believe, Funniest

One of the few advantages to not being beautiful is that one usually gets better-looking as one gets older; I am, in fact, at this very moment, gaining my looks.

- Jane Lynch

Fact, Very, Gaining, Older

I never thought I would work with Meryl Streep. I also love Cate Blanchett.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Thought, Meryl, None

I looked at my mom and her life, and I thought, 'I don't want that.' I don't think my mom wanted it, either. I think my mom did want to be out there and have a career. She loved working. As soon as we were old enough to feed ourselves, she was out.

- Jane Lynch

Thought, Career, I Think, Feed

From the start. As early as - I felt I was in the wrong sex; I really did. I would go into my dad's room and put on his clothes.

- Jane Lynch

Start, Sex, Dad, Clothes

I've actually never done standup before.

- Jane Lynch

Never, Before, Actually, Standup

I've always sung. My dad had a song in his heart and on his lips 24/7. A lot of the time, it was the same song and the same phrase over and over again.

- Jane Lynch

Song, Always, Over, Lips

When I was a young person, when I was in high school, we did a very emotional and wonderful - for us, life-changing - production of 'Godspell.' It really, really was the highlight of my high school time, and it was for everybody else in the cast, too.

- Jane Lynch

Young, Everybody, Very, Everybody Else

Everybody has their own way to deal with it. I don't concern myself with other people's - whether or not they want to come out, it's not something for me think about.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Deal, Everybody, Concern

I don't have to talk to a surgeon to play a surgeon, you know what I mean?

- Jane Lynch

Play, Mean, Know, Surgeon

When I was younger, I actually wanted to be in the spotlight. To have people want me, want to have a piece of me.

- Jane Lynch

Younger, Wanted, Actually, Spotlight

My first-ever role was the king in 'The Princess and the Pea.'

- Jane Lynch

King, Role, Princess

My parents felt judged by me.

- Jane Lynch

Parents, Me, Felt, Judged

There's nothing better than voicing a character. You don't have to worry about what you're wearing; you've got the script in front of you, and it doesn't involve your body: it's all about your voice, and it's really fast work.

- Jane Lynch

Voice, About, Your, Script

I know it sounds new age-y, but what I've truly come up with is that you really need to trust that you're on your own path, as long as you stay true to it and you show up, which is 99% of it.

- Jane Lynch

Trust, New, Which, Stay True

I think a little tidbit I can give you is that I grew up with basically everything handed to me, except for my career. I worked for that.

- Jane Lynch

Career, Think, Give, Handed

I'm a person who likes habit and knowing what my job is.

- Jane Lynch

Habit, Knowing, Person, Likes

I'm like Jay Gatsby. I like to throw the party and then stand back, looking gorgeous. Stand back and watch it.

- Jane Lynch

Back, Like, Then, Jay

Football is very masculine and, to me, a metaphor for war.

- Jane Lynch

Me, Metaphor, Very, Masculine

The more I become comfortable in my own skin, I think the funnier I become.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Funnier, I Think, Comfortable

Nothing like falling in love with a dead actress to prove your sanity.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Falling, Actress, Sanity

I have to admit that I was a little nervous when I showed up for my first official 'Wreck-It Ralph' recording session.

- Jane Lynch

Recording, Ralph, Official, Session

I can fool people that I was educated.

- Jane Lynch

People, Educated, I Can, Fool

I love being in these ensemble comedy movies. I love working with a bunch of people and coming up with, you know, How can we make this moment funnier?

- Jane Lynch

Love, Comedy, Funnier, Bunch

The comedians who I admire that are really good, they always take it to a deep psychological place.

- Jane Lynch

Deep, Always, Take, Comedians

I wanted to do something where I could hang my hat.

- Jane Lynch

Hang, Could, Wanted, Hat

When I look back, I think I must have been hugely motivated. I would have loved for somebody to say, 'You go for it!' I just didn't have that.

- Jane Lynch

Think, Go For It, Been, Hugely

I do like to go to movies. I like to be in the theater. I like the event of it.

- Jane Lynch

Movies, Go, Like, Theater

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a boy. I really had gender issues.

- Jane Lynch

Gender, Kid, Wanted, Issues

Once you start classifying and trying to identify your own comedy style, you've ceased to be funny.

- Jane Lynch

Trying, Once, Identify, Style

I have acting technique; I have singing technique; I don't have a writing technique to fall back on.

- Jane Lynch

Writing, Fall, Technique, Singing

The world, universe, God, whatever you call it, has so much more in store if you just sit back and relax and do what's right in front of you.

- Jane Lynch

Relax, More, Back, Universe

I'm an actor more than anything else.

- Jane Lynch

Actor, More, Else, Anything Else

I love being the villain.

- Jane Lynch

Love, Being, I Love, Villain

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