Top 64 Quotes & Sayings by Molly Shannon

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actress Molly Shannon.
Last updated on November 21, 2024.
Molly Shannon

Molly Helen Shannon is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Other People.

I definitely have loads of respect for writers and the art of writing.
I used to get painful crushes on really unavailable guys.
I just try to laugh at the little things. Like, I'm always amazed by how long it takes two kids to get dressed and out the door. Every morning I say, 'Come on! Let's go! Five minutes!' And they're still in their underwear. Or they say they're ready, but they're not wearing shoes.
People would be like, 'Oh, 'Saturday Night Live' is such a stepping stone!' And I remember being like, 'A stepping stone?! This is my everything! I could just stop right here! This is the pinnacle!'
The love of a parent, that connection, it's eternal. — © Molly Shannon
The love of a parent, that connection, it's eternal.
I lead a very normal life. I'm just so happy being a mother that everything else revolves around that. If a movie falls through or a TV show doesn't get picked up, I'm pretty easygoing about it because I'm just like, 'Yay, I get to be with my kids more!'
Losing my mom at such a young age had a profound effect on my life.
I like both movies and TV, so I don't have some big grand plan.
I think I'm a really hard worker, and I feel like my attitude is to just enjoy the process of being creative and developing and 'just throw a bunch of stuff against the wall and see what sticks.'
She's true to herself and she's determined. She has things going against her, but she forges ahead despite all of that. I think that's encouraging. She's got some problems, but she has hope and tries to plow through things. I think that's a good role model.
I used to watch 'SNL' when I was babysitting, after I put the kids to bed. It was the Gilda Radner and Bill Murray era. I loved it.
I'm very driven by writing. Coming from 'Saturday Night Live,' because it's such a writing job, and we all write our parts on the show and create characters, I'm so respectful of good writing.
Mary Katherine Gallagher is an exaggerated version of me, how I felt when I was little.
If you can write and create original characters, do your own show, develop your own material, it gives you more power than just waiting around to be hired.
When I see a mom embarrassed because her kid is having a temper tantrum, I'm like, 'Please! Do you think I've never gone through that?' Women tend to be too hard on themselves.
Without a doubt, the worst part of being a mom is having to floss my kids' teeth every night. It's so tedious. — © Molly Shannon
Without a doubt, the worst part of being a mom is having to floss my kids' teeth every night. It's so tedious.
I had to babysit a lot when I was in high school, and I missed a lot of parties. I felt this longing, like, 'Oh no, I'm going to miss meeting the love of my life at that party!' I feel like that's very Mary Katherine Gallagher.
I think that, being a mother, you would do anything for your children. Their pain is your pain; if they're in pain, you feel their pain.
There was a period where I stopped auditioning because I was like, 'I don't have the heart.' There's just so much rejection.
My dad was a real fun guy, and despite his personal problems, he was a great father. It wasn't easy, but he did a good job of raising my sister Mary and I all by himself.
I'm no way one of those comedians who want to do drama. I really do love comedies. I hope to go back to it.
I went to drama school at New York University.
I guess I have a positive attitude about divorce because I have some friends who've gotten divorced, and I'm like, 'Well, if it's better, then - good!'
I love comedy, but I did always consider myself a dramatic comedian.
I never think I want to try to be funny. And humor, if there is anything funny, should come from a real place.
I've definitely read stuff that I've been offered where I've been like, 'I can't do this. I think somebody would be better in this than me.' I don't want to do something if I don't feel like I can do a good job serving the material.
When I was on 'Saturday Night Live,' all I did was work.
When I was 12, my friend and I tried to sneak onto a plane from my hometown of Cleveland to New York City! My dad encouraged us - he was a wild guy, big on jokes.
I actually went to college with Adam Sandler. He was a dramatic actor, too!
I think things get a lot better after high school. I think the ones that struggle during that time tend to have better experiences after.
I went to NYU drama school, so I was a very serious actress. I used to do monologues with a Southern accent, and I was really into drama and drama school. And then, in my last year of drama school, I did a comedy show, and the show became a big hit on campus.
I really love having lots of down time with my kids.
I think people pick up on that. You use personal stuff and mix it all in - I definitely pull on that stuff in my acting.
The clothes, the shoes, the gold belts and the necklaces always click me into the character, for sure. You could not feel the character, and then you put on the shoes and get the walk.
Nobody knows how long you're going to have life on Earth, so you really have to work at being joyous and happy.
I try to put my own history in my work.
I do use my body a lot, to click into a character.
In real life, I always look at people and how they walk, or how they carry themselves. I think about the body a lot, in performance.
I think that being a mother, you would do anything for your children. Their pain is your pain; if they're in pain, you feel their pain.
I do make a conscious effort to not repeat old patterns, instead of being like, But they don't want me! I haven't always been that way. — © Molly Shannon
I do make a conscious effort to not repeat old patterns, instead of being like, But they don't want me! I haven't always been that way.
I can't believe when you write something from within, how many people relate to it.
If it's not happening, write your own thing!
I consider my comedy to be dramatic comedy. I always wanted music underscoring the dramatic monologue. It was always drama with comedy, in my head.
I'm very driven by writing.
I'm so respectful of good writing. It's the blueprint for the movie. You have to have that script there because, if you don't, you're going to have problems. It's very important. It's also a gut instinct.
I've definitely read stuff that I've been offered, where I've been like, "I can't do this. I think somebody would be better in this than me."
You really get a feeling, when you're reading scripts, pretty quickly. Within 20 or 25 pages, you can get a sense of the part. I always think about whether I'm right for it and whether I can do it. If I don't think I'm right for it, it should go to somebody else.
I want to do something I feel like I can do.
Sometimes a fan comes up to me, and I'm really interested in how they're acting, so I'll study them and use that in my material.
I barely have time to watch stuff that I'm in, or my friends' stuff. The bar for writing has really elevated and it's really exciting, it's not just parts for 25-year-olds.
There's so much to watch, I can't even keep up. — © Molly Shannon
There's so much to watch, I can't even keep up.
I've got wonderful people I get to work with, and I'm trying to focus on that, instead of worrying about, Aw, who doesn't want to work with me? You focus on the ones who do.
I certainly struggled when I was little and didn't have an easy time, so I try to put that stuff in my work.
I have always loved both drama and comedy.
I think in show business, it's really kind of easy to perpetuate that feeling of, like, Oh, I don't measure up. Or always having to prove yourself.
The three words every woman really longs to hear: I'll clean up.
I'm healthy, I have beautiful children and a beautiful life. I don't want to go toward negative stuff because I'm scared.
I feel like there is this resurgence of amazing roles for women. It's because TV is so good - there are amazing parts for women on TV, and it's upped the game in movies.
Most comedians come from a dark past and have a lot of sadness.
You can make the audience laugh, be funny and sad at the same time.
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