Top 37 Quotes & Sayings by Kelly Reilly

I love actresses who are brave and don't do what's expected of them or don't play off how they look or take risks.

You know, I really enjoy longevity. I see actors in their forties and they just turn out these really fabulous roles and characters. You know who they are, but you wouldn't necessarily know their names.

My dad is such a good man, hard-working.

My family believe you should never be flashy about anything. Maybe that handicapped me a little bit, that extreme humility.

I'd love to work on a real girl piece with some fabulous actresses. I feel like I've worked with so many men.

I think when you're an actor and you're drawing on your emotions all the time, you need to be quite steady.

Women do well in their thirties. They put their bags down and say, 'This is who I am - like it or lump it.' There is a more relaxed quality, which I like.

Literally, I don't know where life is gonna go from one day to the next, and that's as exciting as it is tiring.

Obviously, education is hugely important, along with healthcare. They're the basics and you're hurting your own country if you don't pour money into them.

There is a part of me that is not fulfilled by acting. It is a self-involved life; it can feel shallow, but not very often.

I hate to say that my mother was 'just a housewife', because in addition to that she has had lots of part-time secretarial jobs in factories and hospitals, always working really hard for our family.

Auditioning is a horrible experience because you know you are being absolutely scrutinized and judged. There are days where you can do it and days where it's just not happening, and I feel like that's how it is with all artists; you have some days it kind of works.

When I was younger, I used to write to directors when I was unsure I could play a role. I'd say: 'You've made a terrible mistake.'

I love strong women in films that are allowed to play women and not male fantasies.

My personal life, my normal life, is so important to me. To be able to go back to my personal life and leave characters behind is important; I don't keep them with me.

At my school, Shakespeare wasn't on the syllabus - at least not for me.

Acting has always been such escapism for me.

Theatre is where my heart is. It's where I can do my best work. And even if I do films and TV, that's what I want to come back to.

I don't want to be doing fashion shoots and being interviewed about where I shop. Who cares?

I'm not a show-off; I'm not an exhibitionist.

As an actor, you always want to keep it different, change it up, and, you know, just to keep yourself inspired and work with interesting characters.

I've no wish to appear in celebrity magazines.

I'm a theater actress. I love rehearsal. I could have six weeks of rehearsal and think it's not enough. But on film, you don't get that luxury.

I need someone who understands an artist's mentality. I couldn't be with someone who wouldn't let me have my freedom.

I'd prefer to go under the radar and just do the acting without being famous for it.

I'm not temperamentally into high comedy. I'm not a Noel Coward kind of girl.

The British theatre and establishment is so hard to penetrate, and there are so many talented people involved in it. So, to be counted among some of those actresses... It doesn't get better than that.

When it comes to my work, I'm fearless. I go with my gut.

I act because I have to, because I need to find out whether I can do it or not - that's what drives me and excites me and lights me up.

It's lovely to work with a group of actors who make you laugh and smile.

Every job feels like my first.

We live in a celebrity-obsessed society.

The reason I act is because I'm trying to understand why people are as they are.

You put yourself on tape as an actor a lot - and you send them off, they go out into the ether, and you have no idea what's going to come back, or when.

Being at the pinnacle of my career is not to turn up in some multiplex blockbuster.

I don't like the word celebrity. If I become a good actress and be in movies where I'm expected to be a good actress, who is recognised, that's different to being what I consider to be a celebrity. My job is an actor and that's what I'm passionate about and adore. It's a privilege to be able to do this job for a living.

Every moment of living has its own logic, its own meaning.