Top 79 Quotes & Sayings by Marcia Gay Harden

I had a science teacher in middle school who inspired me... simply because she acknowledged me and made me feel that what I had to offer was worthy.

In Hollywood, a lot of acting feels like grandstanding.

Having a dad in the service was helpful. I was forever meeting new kids, going to new schools, moving to new neighborhoods. I was encouraged when I attended the American School in Germany.

In my opinion, Zac Efron is a total hero. Him seeking help encourages other people with addictive issues to seek help. It's brave of him.

I was always an exhibitionist. I liked it when everyone laughed. But I didn't do plays in high school. I was too nervous.

Whether you win or not, the night the Oscars are over, the curtain goes down and you go back to the grind. Period.

I have a theory that there's almost this primal viewpoint on women in the business, that once you're beyond childbearing age, you are perceived as nonthreatening, nonsexual, noncastable. Sure, I already knew it before I got into it. I just didn't know I'd end up making my living from low-budget, independent films.

All those days of waiting on tables until I could get a role on Broadway, all that time going to school taking lessons, and all those years of being a nobody following a dream-and now here it is.

In any film, there are 10 male roles for 1 female role, especially in the action films. They're heavy with the guys.

The trophy wife must be in her 20s to earn the title 'trophy wife.'

Doing theater is such a specifically energetic and almost acrobatic work.

I was always the child who wore her emotions on her sleeve.

You want to know how I'm feeling? Just look at me, and I'll tell you how I'm feeling. Nothing is hidden. I'm all out there. I cry like a baby, I get upset, I stamp my feet. I'm not stoic.

I just never wanted to be too much in the background. I always wanted to be a part of things.

After I won the Oscar for 'Pollock,' some newspaper printed, 'She should get a million-dollar bump.' My sisters would write me, 'You're gonna get this million-dollar bump!'

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

The people who stood out in the Sandy Hook incident, the heroes, were the normal, ordinary people who went to save those children.

People have such false perceptions of how stardom really works.

Shakespeare set a lot of his dramas in a historical perspective or war perspective, or he would study what was going on at that time.

I think in terms of family, in terms of relationships, in terms of work, competition to be the favorite, to be the noticed, to be the one - I don't know if it exists for all personalities, but I know for sure it did with me.

Back in the days of Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis, beauty wasn't the be-all and end-all it is today.

It's hard to balance work and family.

I don't think any extremism is rational.

With any tween, you have issues, from what they are going to wear to school, to how do you get them to speak politely, to how regularly they lose their contact lenses.

In the theater, it's about taking time in a musical segment, a pause in a musical way and then moving on.

I do pottery.

My schools were quite diverse - those who serve their country come from every race and religion - and so the military schools I attended were a wonderful melting pot.

In theater, you have a rehearsal period and you know just who to be.

You're over there in the corner either thinking about the dead dog or whatever, you're bringing up your personal life and you need the space, and then somebody throws you a joke. Especially if it's an emotional scene, you don't want the joke.

You've got to understand what makes the character human.

Everyone thinks offers are always pouring in. Offers have never poured in. Never. I was auditioning a lot, but I didn't get the jobs.

I played Laura Bush in a Tony Kushner piece, and afterward, I think my phones got tapped.

You want people - I want people to relate to me as a character. I want them to go, 'That could have been me,' or, 'I know someone like that.'

A New York casting director, who shall remain nameless, once said to me, 'Marcia, you have what I call the flaring-nostril look, and until you get something done about it, you will never, ever work.'

My work often takes me away from my family for long periods of time, so I've really come to appreciate the time I do spend with them.

They tell us in magazines and in ads, 'Oh, you should look like this, you should wear this, you should look like this movie star, or you're nothing.' And so we're all totally unsatisfied.

Reading is a joy for my kids, and to swing in a hammock on a lazy summer day reading a good book just goes with summer.

You can manipulate the viewer in film. With theater, what you see is what you get.

Working on 'King Of Texas' was a life experience for me.

Sometimes I ride my bike to see the kids after a matinee and then ride back to do the show. That's the hard part, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I loved playing Anne Bancroft, because she was so wonderfully arch.

I've never really liked horror films.

Oh, I just love being a character actress. You have a lot of fun, and not only that, you save tons on cosmetic surgery because you never have to have liposuction.

I love it when ugliness is beautiful. I love character flaws.

You know what I miss? I miss myself, that time to just do things for myself.

I always wanted to be in movies.

There are certainly a billion, ker-trillion girls out there more attractive than I am.

I've had an amazing career and amazing blessings. But I'm an everyday person, and I have lived an everyday life, and I drive an everyday car.

I've been so lucky to work with some great, great writers: Tony Kushner and Yasmina Reza.

I'm always a little starstruck anyway. So to work with a movie star, which is Brad, I was excited about that; to work with a movie legend, which is Tony, I wouldn't have passed that up. Just to get to watch him and watch how he works.

In my kids' school, the married family is an anomaly... which I do think is sad. I do believe in marriage.

Isn't it nice not to have to compartmentalize yourself?

I love physical comedy. I adore comedy of any kind.

So far, the thing I seem to have been rewarded for in film is leaving myself behind and transforming myself into other people.

The only thing that seemed to me I could do in such a way that no one else could was acting. I thought, I can be a doctor, but there's going to be someone else who is just as good or better. I can be a lawyer, which I still sometimes think I would love to be, but I think there's someone who can do it just as good or better.

Everybody says 'Good Morning' in Harlem because it's true! And that's lovely.

I'm not a big fan of mediocre.

I think to visualize failure as you're starting off is really a bad thing to do.

As a mother, I love the Leapster handheld because it really delivers on educating children while they play. My daughter enjoys it because it's fun and touches on all of the activities she is interested in - videos, books and art.

If you think someone committed a crime, you should turn them in to whomever you perceive authority to be.