Beth Grant Quotes

I never have broken up in comedy, ever. There’s something about me that I just don’t break on camera – maybe because I’m just so cheap, and I know how expensive it is to shoot – but I broke on Sordid Lives, and I broke on The Office. Those are the only two times in my life.
BETH GRANT

Broken Comedy Office
Jessica Tandy. Nice company! And Ruth Gordon. They worked all along. She didn’t really get any big star recognition until Driving Miss Daisy. So what if it takes me that long? Slow and steady wins the race, right? Better a tortoise than a hare.
BETH GRANT

Long Nice Winning
My agent says, “You have an audition for the next Dustin Hoffman movie, playing a pioneer woman.” And I go, “All right!” I passed Barry Levinson in the hall on the way into my audition, and I saw him do a double-take. I think I looked so determined that I got the job right then.
BETH GRANT

Determined Movie Thinking
My husband and I can’t get through dinner without being defensive. We’ve been married 24 years, and I love my husband to death, but sometimes I say, “What are we? Two injured creatures who can’t talk to each other without going, like, ‘Ahhh!’?”
BETH GRANT

Husband Married Sometimes
If you just think Donnie Darkos a weird movie, you don’t want to think. You don’t want to feel your feelings. So yeah, I do want to shake ’em up.
BETH GRANT

Feelings Thinking Wierd
The Coens both give you direction, and then it’s up to you to kind of figure out the music of what they’re saying.
BETH GRANT

Direction Giving Kind
Sometimes I’ll say, “When Sandy Bullock and I were doing Speed – the movie, not the drug.” Just in case someone’s listening.
BETH GRANT

Drug Listening Sometimes
At Rain Man, I was 38. And before that, I had really just started working when I was 36. I was very late. So I’ve got time, right? As long as I stay healthy and eat right.
BETH GRANT

Long Men Rain
I had this great teacher, Milton Katselas, who was this loud Greek who had directed Bette Davis and Liv Ullmann, and brought Edward Albee to this country. He said, “Why do you keep trying to be a Rolex watch when you’re the salt of the earth?” Except he said it much louder.
BETH GRANT

Country Greek Teacher
There’s always that key to every character that lets you go to those places you need to go to. No matter how much you might hate the character, it makes you understand it.
BETH GRANT

Character Hate Letting You Go
I love smoking. I miss it every day of my life. If I found out that it didn’t cause cancer, I would go out and buy, like, eight cartons right now.
BETH GRANT

Cancer Missing Smoking
There are several things iconic about Sissy Hickey character – even just sounds. Like, “Awww.” People love that sound! “Awww.” I actually didn’t want to do the role, because I didn’t think I looked like a smoker – even though I used to be a smoker.
BETH GRANT

Character People Thinking
I grew up around people, so I know ’em, and I do like playin’ ’em. I’m not religious, but I am kind of a spiritual fanatic, so maybe I understand them in that way.
BETH GRANT

People Religious Spiritual
I never have compared myself to Jessica Tandy in any way, and that’s such a great role model for me to look at. I’m seriously going to put pictures of her in my dressing room and commune with her from now on, I think.
BETH GRANT

Role Model Thinking
Maybe the actors that used to turn down William Goldman’s scripts – where he wanted them to stretch and grow, and he was mad at ’em, and said, “Why won’t they be a real actor?” – maybe they just knew their audience. It’s too bad.
BETH GRANT

Audience Mad Real
As much as I love being an artist, I love being a mom even more.
BETH GRANT

Artist Love Mom
I was so frustrated with my whole life that I walked up this hilltop and screamed at the heavens. It was very dramatic – but then again, I am an actress – and I said, “Fine! I’ll be a character actress! Just tell me what you want me to do!” I was so angry at the universe.
BETH GRANT

Character Frustrated Heaven
I’m ready to do some classics. Maybe I wasn’t in the beginning. I weighed 179 pounds when I got to New York, and I had that thick Southern accent. I still talk Southern, but I can do without it.
BETH GRANT

Beginning Classic Southern
I’ve died so many times in so many movies. What is it about my face that people want to kill it? I’m sure they would’ve killed Kitty Farmer if they could’ve!
BETH GRANT

Farmers Many Movies People
I had a very hard time accepting myself as a character actress, because I wanted to be glamorous and a leading lady like everybody else. I looked in the mirror and thought I looked pretty good, but casting didn’t ever see me that way.
BETH GRANT

Accepting Character Hard Times
I thought Sissy Hickey should be really skinny and leathery and have one of those really husky voices, but Del Shores kept saying, “I wrote this part for you.” He took me to his house and showed me pictures of all his Texas relatives, and they looked exactly like my family.
BETH GRANT

House My Family Sissy
I knew Steve Carell because of Little Miss Sunshine, so I felt very comfortable with him. Maybe he always does it to guest stars, but I felt as though he was being particularly funny with me, and particularly stretching the boundaries of improvisation.
BETH GRANT

Hate Missing Sunshine
I’d much rather insult people and make ’em angry. Donnie Darko’s very controversial. Not all of my friends like it. Honestly, it’s almost become a test for me. If somebody says they don’t like Donnie Darko, I think, “Oh, I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”
BETH GRANT

Insult People Thinking
Reality television, anybody can be a star at any minute.
BETH GRANT

Minute Reality Star
Tone is a very difficult thing. You can’t write tone, I don’t think. You can try – you certainly try. I write too, so I know I’m trying desperately to communicate to whoever’s going to direct my pieces, the way I see the humor. But it’s very difficult.
BETH GRANT

Thinking Trying Writing
I built a career on my archetype, and I’m grateful, but I’m trying to stretch.
BETH GRANT

Archetype Grateful Trying
He’s such a comic genius. I hate to use that word, because everyone throws it around, but Steve Carell is channeling something.
BETH GRANT

Changing Everyone Something

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