Mary Steenburgen Quotes

It's very easy to approach a character like that - a so-called strong woman who overcomes the odds - and give a one-note performance, playing that strength alone. Strength is only one thing a person has.

- Mary Steenburgen

Strong, Woman, Very, Overcomes

I don't know if I've ever read a movie that's as strange and unpredictable and hilarious and wonderful as the stuff we're doing on 'The Last Man on Earth.' It's jaw-dropping every week when I get a script, because it goes to such strange places.

- Mary Steenburgen

Doing, Week, Movie, Hilarious

I don't worry when I go away for a while. I think there is a place for me. It may not be at the top of the heap. But that doesn't bother me, either. I think I will always be able to get work - which is the only thing I have ever really been interested in.

- Mary Steenburgen

Away, Been, I Think, Heap

My dad had a series of heart attacks when I was a little girl, and our world was shaped by these huge, traumatic events.

- Mary Steenburgen

Shaped, Dad, Our World, Traumatic

I got my SAG card on my first movie, 'Goin' South,' with Jack Nicholson in 1978.

- Mary Steenburgen

Movie, Got, South, Nicholson

We don't want to be reminded that life ends at some point, so they don't put older people on the screen.

- Mary Steenburgen

Want, Some, Screen, Older People

Our culture loves movies and TV, which is wonderful, but there's something a little bit passive sometimes about watching, because you're looking at other people's imagination at work.

- Mary Steenburgen

Other, TV, Which, Passive

As an actress, my best tools are my emotions and expressions.

- Mary Steenburgen

Best, Emotions, Actress, Expressions

I'm kind of a laugh junkie. It's what I appreciate in life, because life is rich and sometimes it's hard, and I really, really love to laugh and gravitate towards people who make me laugh.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Kind, Gravitate, Make Me Laugh

I'm a late bloomer.

- Mary Steenburgen

Late, Late Bloomer, Bloomer

I love to play horrible, evil, mean people.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Play, I Love, Mean People

'Justified' had such dead-on beautiful scripts that you didn't want to mess with it.

- Mary Steenburgen

Beautiful, Want, Justified, Scripts

There are no worse cliches than southern cliches. They make my skin crawl.

- Mary Steenburgen

Skin, Southern, Than, Cliches

My agents and managers deserve a special Emmy award for scheduling.

- Mary Steenburgen

Deserve, Award, Special, Scheduling

I feel like I'm attracted to characters who have one foot firmly planted on the ground. And their heads up in the clouds somewhere. Practical dreamers. They try to impress you that they've got this whole thing figured out, but there's more going on inside their heads than you might imagine.

- Mary Steenburgen

Feel, Firmly, Planted, Dreamers

I loved Westerns for different reasons as an adult. It is not only our only native brand of storytelling - the only one that's not influenced by Europeans and not something that's done better by the French - but I also love the sensuality of the Western. The sights, sounds, and smell of a Western are very exciting.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Storytelling, Very, Sensuality

A period piece is a great opportunity for an actress. I love acting because I love to pretend, and when you're doing a period piece, then even the time you're in is pretend, so there's that much more to play with.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Play, Actress, Great Opportunity

I'm real strong, and I'm also real feminine, and I don't find a struggle having those two things under one roof.

- Mary Steenburgen

Strong, Roof, Having, Struggle

My family didn't have money to travel, so reading was how I knew about the world. It made me hungry to have more experiences than just what I could possibly experience in Arkansas.

- Mary Steenburgen

More, Made, Could, Possibly

Hey, it's a miracle to have a career in Hollywood. But it doesn't begin to sum me up.

- Mary Steenburgen

Me, Career, Hollywood, Hey

I studied with Sandy Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. I was in the last class to study with him before he had his larynx removed, so I actually remember the sound of his voice. He was an incredible teacher.

- Mary Steenburgen

Voice, Study, Last, Neighborhood

I grew up believing in Santa Claus, and we still treat our house at Christmas with a huge reverence for that belief - even though our children are 19 through 23.

- Mary Steenburgen

Treat, Through, Still, Santa Claus

Essential oils are extremely important to me.

- Mary Steenburgen

Me, Important, Extremely, Oils

The accordion came from just having a desire to play music. Somehow, I have slowly taught myself.

- Mary Steenburgen

Play, Accordion, Having, Play Music

Will Forte is such a nice, extraordinarily creative human being. Utterly fearless.

- Mary Steenburgen

Will, Human Being, Utterly, Extraordinarily

The part in 'Philadelphia' where I represent the law firm that's firing Tom Hanks, that was a hard part for me because I lost one of my best friends to AIDS, and it was hard for me to play a part that wasn't sympathetic to someone with AIDS.

- Mary Steenburgen

Play, Part, Sympathetic, Law Firm

I've had battles with writers who live in L.A. and were writing southern characters, because they felt like if they wrote 'Sugar' and 'Honey' at the end of every sentence, that would make it southern.

- Mary Steenburgen

Sentence, Like, Southern, Battles

I think the secret to what Jim Henson did, ultimately, is that he understood how to cut through to the... I know this sounds corny... but the child inside of you.

- Mary Steenburgen

Think, Through, I Think, Understood

Let me put it this way. There is more to acting than just acting like somebody. I like to act in such a way that other people get some notion of what it's like to be somebody.

- Mary Steenburgen

Some, Other, Like, Such A Way

I did 'Philadelphia' and 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' at the same time. It's kind of wonderful to do it that way, because you get very hyper-focused.

- Mary Steenburgen

Kind, Very, Gilbert, Grape

Anytime I had a date, it was at the Sadie Hawkins Day dance.

- Mary Steenburgen

Date, Had, Anytime, Hawkins

I write music as a staff writer for Universal Music Group, and I have since 2007. I've never talked about it publicly because I wanted to earn the right to be in the same room as the great writers I write with and not shoot my mouth off because I'm an actor. It's really important to me, and I really care about it.

- Mary Steenburgen

Music, I Write, About, Group

My son, he has a film group, a bunch of film nerds that sit around and screen movies, and when they had Mary Steenburgen Night, the two movies they screened were 'Melvin And Howard' and 'Clifford.'

- Mary Steenburgen

Night, Screen, Mary, Group

Whenever we start a new TV series, there's also a lot of question marks, and part of that is finding who you are.

- Mary Steenburgen

Question, New, TV, Marks

I actually believed if I behaved myself and if I made straight A's and if I was good enough, I could save my dad's life. And every single time he had a heart attack, I knew what I had done that caused it.

- Mary Steenburgen

Save, Had, Dad, Behaved

There's no strategy involved in my career decisions. I do whatever roles make my heart beat faster.

- Mary Steenburgen

Career, Whatever, Roles, Strategy

There's just such a premium on hurrying, and the camera is the be all and end all, and the actors had better hurry up and get it right and get it done.

- Mary Steenburgen

Right, Had, Hurrying, Camera

I'm not saying it's easy, and it's definitely harder for women. Because there is definitely a double standard about gorgeous older men, and it's different for older women.

- Mary Steenburgen

Double, Standard, About, Older Men

Every child in America fantasizes about running wild in the White House for a few minutes.

- Mary Steenburgen

White, Running, Minutes, White House

I panic at parties. I don't like talking absolutely nothing and pretending, so I'm quite odd socially.

- Mary Steenburgen

Like, Absolutely Nothing, Panic

I've done little things, including Botox, but it didn't feel right for me.

- Mary Steenburgen

Little Things, Me, Including, Botox

I couldn't imagine trying anything else besides acting. But I didn't know that to make it meant I'd be on a movie screen.

- Mary Steenburgen

Movie, Imagine, Meant, Besides

We're all very fond of a black box in our living room that works on diminishment of images, that spoons somebody up in a very limited way. It can be a reduction at its worst.

- Mary Steenburgen

Living, Very, Images, Fond

I remember when I was growing up and watching southern people depicted on television, I thought, 'Well, based on what I'm seeing, I guess I'm supposed to be stupid and racist.' It's still, sadly, the easy route for a writer to go.

- Mary Steenburgen

Stupid, I Remember, Southern, Depicted

I did sing in a choir for a while, but if anybody was sick, I always whispered my songs to make sure nobody could pick out my voice.

- Mary Steenburgen

Voice, Always, Sure, Choir

I had two wonderful teachers: Sanford Melsner and Fred Kareman.

- Mary Steenburgen

Wonderful, Teachers, Had, Fred

I think, as an actor, you're constantly confronted with your fear of sticking your neck out.

- Mary Steenburgen

Think, Actor, I Think, Confronted

I've chosen all my films very carefully. I know that I've had better parts in some films than in others. But the films I do are the ones I want to see when I read the screenplays. I guess you can basically say that I've just done things I loved when I read them.

- Mary Steenburgen

Some, Very, Had, Screenplays

You've never seen anything until you've seen David Mamet be an Edwardian lady. He always conveys what he means, but he's so... masculine.

- Mary Steenburgen

Always, Seen, Means, Edwardian

New York had this wild beat that anybody could dance to. It was very nurturing to young people.

- Mary Steenburgen

New, Young, Very, Nurturing

My heritage, many generations back, is Dutch and it was fun to go where nobody asked me how to pronounce my name.

- Mary Steenburgen

Go, Back, Generations, Dutch

I would say that the things that have really left a mark on me have more to do with my family and my children's lives rather than a film role.

- Mary Steenburgen

Role, Rather, Lives, Mark

There's a grace about the South and a toughness about it, too.

- Mary Steenburgen

Grace, South, Too, Toughness

I have hundreds of songs.

- Mary Steenburgen

Songs, Hundreds

I know that's why I became an actress. In my dream world, I could get mad and scream and yell, and if somebody died, they got up again. In real life, I didn't dare try it.

- Mary Steenburgen

Why, Scream, Became, Dare

Wii on Nintendo is amazing.

- Mary Steenburgen

Amazing, Nintendo

I know this is kind of corny, but we thought about renewing our vows again because I think my mom would really love it if we did that in Arkansas, where I came from.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Thought, I Think, Corny

The time that Ted and I spend talking about our careers is almost infinitesimally small. We mostly talk about our kids and our grandkids. I think we talk about our careers if something funny happened at work. We're very childlike in many ways.

- Mary Steenburgen

Small, Very, Mostly, Grandkids

There's a style to doing period pieces, and you can't do a Western without understanding 'My Darling Clementine.'

- Mary Steenburgen

Doing, Period, Period Pieces, Western

Acting was far from my world. I rarely saw a play. I never met a real actress; they seemed unreal.

- Mary Steenburgen

Play, Actress, Seemed, Met

I learned so much about life and other human beings - then about myself.

- Mary Steenburgen

Other, Human Beings, Learned, Beings

There's a certain arrogance to an actor who will look at a script and feel like, because the words are simple, maybe they can paraphrase it and make it better.

- Mary Steenburgen

Will, Like, Maybe, Paraphrase

At one point, I kind of looked in the mirror and said, 'You know, you're a mom. You're a wife. People count on you; you can't go off the deep end into this kind of crazy musical swirl.'

- Mary Steenburgen

Mirror, Deep, Musical, Deep End

I had a sense of mortality since I was a little girl, which has to do with my father, who nearly died eight times in my childhood. He had eight heart attacks.

- Mary Steenburgen

Father, Childhood, Which, Little Girl

It's usually, my people speak to your people and then they speak around each other and trade calls for weeks.

- Mary Steenburgen

Other, Your, Weeks, Calls

I wasn't making any money, but I didn't feel unsuccessful because of that. You can do that in New York but not in Hollywood. In Hollywood, it is how much money you make.

- Mary Steenburgen

New, Hollywood, Making, Unsuccessful

Writing is essentially an internal process.

- Mary Steenburgen

Writing, Process, Internal, Essentially

I helped found Artists for New South Africa, but it used to be called Artists for Free South Africa. Alfre Woodard and a bunch of us started this.

- Mary Steenburgen

New, Africa, South Africa, Helped

I didn't work for a year and a half after 'Melvin and Howard' because all I was being offered was silly parts.

- Mary Steenburgen

Work, Year, Half, Parts

I've never been able to write a movie script. I respect that skill so much, but it's not been the way my brain works.

- Mary Steenburgen

Movie, Been, Works, Skill

I didn't work for a couple of years after the Oscar because everybody kept offering me bad versions of Lynda Dummar.

- Mary Steenburgen

Everybody, Couple, Oscar, Versions

It was a few days later I came out to Hollywood for a screen test, and so did a lot of other people. So, I really didn't think I would get it. I was definitely the one that was least likely to get it, because everyone else was an already established star.

- Mary Steenburgen

Hollywood, Other, Least, I Came

I've found that most people who studied when they were little, even if they never took another tap class, it's percussive, so it stays in your body, the muscle memory of it.

- Mary Steenburgen

Memory, Another, Your, Muscle

The sights and sounds and smells, the whole genre of Westerns - I love them.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Westerns, I Love, Genre

I'm not a great horse person, but I love horses, and I love all of it. The sights and sounds and smells, the whole genre of Westerns - I love them.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Sights, Smells, Genre

'Last Man On Earth,' I have to say, is a love for me. I mean, a true passion. To people who haven't watched it or who've watched a little and thought, 'Ah, I don't know where this is going,' or whatever, I urge them to check it out again.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Thought, Urge, Watched

I don't want to go to just watch big huge summer movies that everybody predicts is going to be the big huge summer movie and that are all the sort of blow-them-up movies or whatever you want to call them. I think there are a lot of other people out there, too, that want an alternative.

- Mary Steenburgen

Big, Other, Everybody, Alternative

I was a waitress for six years in New York. I actually got fascinated to see how fast and how good a waitress I could be. I was doing it, so I tried to do it as well as I could.

- Mary Steenburgen

Doing, New, Six, I Tried

When you read books, you kind of create that whole world in your mind, and you go on a journey with the author of that book. I think that's really a good thing.

- Mary Steenburgen

Mind, Think, A Good Thing, Good Thing

I love dark chocolate, 70 percent and up.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Dark, I Love, Chocolate

Like most people, I have a dark side, but because of roles I played early on, people tend not to guess that.

- Mary Steenburgen

Like, Side, Roles, Dark Side

I was this person with this weird last name from New York that no one had ever heard of. But my screen test I guess, according to him, was the best. So I got the part, which was incredible.

- Mary Steenburgen

Screen, Part, According, Heard

We tell our kids to try for what they want. We cheer them on. But at some point, we stop doing this for ourselves. We shouldn't be so quick to close doors.

- Mary Steenburgen

Doing, Some, Quick, Doors

If you're not growing, you're dying, and I'm not ready for that.

- Mary Steenburgen

Growing, Dying, You, Ready

'Step Brothers' is probably the film the most people who approach me want to talk about.

- Mary Steenburgen

Want, Brothers, Most, Step

'Step Brothers' was like a reward for going through my whole career and somehow surviving.

- Mary Steenburgen

Career, Reward, Through, Step

I don't consider myself much of a singer. I'm a writer first.

- Mary Steenburgen

Myself, Singer, Writer, Consider

'Last Man On Earth' is just one of the most original projects I've ever been involved with.

- Mary Steenburgen

Original, Been, Projects, Involved

What a mother I am. I can't even make popcorn.

- Mary Steenburgen

Mother, I Am, Even, Popcorn

I take the fact that films cost a lot of money very seriously, but once in a while to have somebody say, This is a big scene, take your time with it, is important. That's John Sayles.

- Mary Steenburgen

Big, Very, Films, Seriously

There's something inside of me that just connects or doesn't connect with the project.

- Mary Steenburgen

Me, Project, Connects, Connect

In my business, guys may age, but it's not even a question they're valued. But women my age are supposed to disappear.

- Mary Steenburgen

Business, Question, May, Supposed

If you want to grow up and do what I do for a living - be an actress - my advice to you is read as much as you can.

- Mary Steenburgen

Grow, Living, Actress, Grow Up

Reading is how I became an actor because I didn't grow up in a house where there was an awareness of film or theater. I also grew up in a house full of teachers, so reading was big in our world.

- Mary Steenburgen

Grow, Big, Became, Grow Up

I'm a chameleon when it comes to languages.

- Mary Steenburgen

Languages, Chameleon

I wanted a relationship like the one my mother and father had. It wasn't perfect; they had to work on it. But there was an unbelievable mutual respect.

- Mary Steenburgen

Perfect, Mother And Father, Mutual Respect

I love to paint. And I have another profession - an interior design business.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Profession, I Love, Paint

If there's an addiction in the Clinton family, it's to problem solving.

- Mary Steenburgen

Problem, Solving, Addiction

Do I feel like I still need to prove myself? Absolutely. And I want to feel that way, and I like that.

- Mary Steenburgen

Prove, Like, Still, Absolutely

I think that we need to look hard at our beliefs and be responsible about how we speak out.

- Mary Steenburgen

Think, Need, I Think, Responsible

My mother was a gorgeous person with no vanity, but she was a really good soul.

- Mary Steenburgen

Mother, She, Gorgeous, Vanity

1977 is the year I made my first movie. Shortly after, I was offered quite nice roles in television. The general consensus among everyone was that I'd be out of my mind to do that.

- Mary Steenburgen

Mind, Year, Movie, Consensus

I started in improv and went into different kinds of things.

- Mary Steenburgen

Different Kinds, Things, Improv

You don't get to make Westerns every day.

- Mary Steenburgen

Every Day, Get, Make, Westerns

I don't know how I could plan my career.

- Mary Steenburgen

Career, How, Could, Plan

When I was going through sad times, I'd watch 'Cheers' at the end of the day to make me feel better.

- Mary Steenburgen

Through, Feel, Going, Cheers

I have never been able to sing in the shower, much less in front of anybody.

- Mary Steenburgen

Never, Shower, Been, Sing

I'd already made the decision before I'd even read it-just because it was John Sayles. Then when I read it, the themes were actually themes that have been a big part of my life.

- Mary Steenburgen

My Life, Big, Big Part, John

Life is about surviving loss.

- Mary Steenburgen

Life, Loss, About, Surviving

Ultimately, there are only two emotions: love and fear. And pretty much anything else you want to name can be broken down into one of those.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Broken, Pretty, Ultimately

Anything to do with the South resonates with me, because I'm Southern.

- Mary Steenburgen

Me, Resonates, South, Southern

I want women, especially young women, to create a world where your success is not based on being young.

- Mary Steenburgen

Young, Success Is, Based, Young Women

For me, acting has often been solitary. You're all together, and then boom, you're gone.

- Mary Steenburgen

Me, Solitary, Been, Boom

I'm a very musical person.

- Mary Steenburgen

Person, Very, Musical

There's just a total boatload of crazy that goes with singing live for the first time when you're 60 years old.

- Mary Steenburgen

Singing, Old, Goes, First Time

Christopher Lloyd was actually the first person - or certainly one of the first few - who ever spoke to me on film.

- Mary Steenburgen

Film, Certainly, Actually, Spoke

I wish sometimes people wouldn't underestimate me. But it's a fleeting wish. It's not where I live.

- Mary Steenburgen

Wish, Fleeting, I Wish, Underestimate

When you spend three months of your life doing a movie, it's important to enjoy yourself.

- Mary Steenburgen

Enjoy, Doing, Movie, Months

I would like to think that in America, as time goes on, you gain freedom, not lose freedom.

- Mary Steenburgen

Freedom, Think, Would, Gain

I've had a great time doing it - being able to say yes to a couple of amazing shows.

- Mary Steenburgen

Doing, Great Time, Yes, Couple

I wrote my first song when I was 54 years old.

- Mary Steenburgen

Song, Old, First, Wrote

There's a certain freedom that comes when people don't expect you to be sexy.

- Mary Steenburgen

Freedom, Sexy, Certain, Expect

I was excited to turn 60.

- Mary Steenburgen

Turn, Excited

I am lucky enough not to have to take jobs unless I love the material.

- Mary Steenburgen

Love, Lucky, Take, Material

I decided if you're lucky enough to be alive, you should use each birthday to celebrate what your life is about.

- Mary Steenburgen

Birthday, Lucky, Alive, Decided

I have never had any success in planning my life, really.

- Mary Steenburgen

Success, My Life, Never, Planning

I used to think I was going to die wise, and now, the one wisdom I have is I know very little.

- Mary Steenburgen

Die, Think, Very, Wise

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