Top 42 Quotes & Sayings by Reggie Lee

As actors, it's so hard to get your hopes up about anything.

When I was growing up in the Philippines, the story that was read to me most was Pinocchio.

There was a week where I was depressed with the rain, and people were telling me to get a light box. But I live on the 14th floor of an apartment complex, and I see the Broadway Bridge and Mount Hood, and it keeps me such company. And like true Oregonians, I don't carry an umbrella anymore.

I always tell Asian actors, especially Filipinos wanting to break into Hollywood, to study, study and study and show their best. I haven't stopped studying. There's an abundance of roles, and all you have to do is prove to them that you are good for the role.

I consider myself a fortunate working actor, but I really work at it all the time. If I have a couple of weeks off, I'm taking class. You never stop. I started when I was 10 years old in Cleveland, and I've never stopped working my butt off.

The acceptance to Harvard was more of trophy than a real possibility to me. I would have been miserable.

There's this list on Internet Movie Database that I'm on, and it's called 'Actors with High Body Counts.' I'm always playing the bad guy.

The other day, a doughnut shop in Portland called Pip's Originals tweeted me telling me that they named a doughnut after me called the 'Dirty Wu.' It is a cinnamon sugar doughnut drizzled with honey and Nutella. It was so good. I just won the Oscar in the sci-fi world.

My parents have mellowed quite a bit, but, growing up, there was a sense that the only real professions were doctor, engineer, lawyer. Those were your choices.

I'm the type of actor that, if I'm not filming something, I'm in class.

I have the biggest sweet tooth, and just recently a doughnut shop in Portland called Pip's Original introduced a doughnut inspired by me called the 'Dirty Wu.' It is a cinnamon-sugar doughnut with sea salt, drizzled with honey and Nutella.

When you're a kid, you think 'Oh, it's so great. I'm going to go to Hollywood. I'm going to go to Broadway.' For a long time, it was such a novelty.

Most of my background is Filipino and partly Chinese, but mostly Filipino.

I think that one of my favorite movie roles has been a film that I did with Jason Statham that was out last year called 'Safe.' I played the main bad guy in that.

I don't fancy myself as a very sarcastic person in real life.

I don't play a regular guy at all - never.

I would love to play a normal human being with a little bit of a comedic bend that had a love interest. I would love to explore comedy, like a half-hour kind of single-camera comedy. I think that would kind of suit me best.

For the working actor, there's nothing more stable than a network television show.

From the time I made my announcement that I was going to be an actor, I auditioned for community theater, did shows at Greenbrier, interned at the Cleveland Play House for a summer, took voice lessons, took ballet lessons. I did everything that Cleveland allowed me to do - everything that was available to me.

Definitely for myself, I find myself gravitating towards dramatic work. In terms of sitcoms, you know, I always tell my agent I don't want to be seen.

My dad is an ob-gyn - he's retired now - and he wanted to come to the States to make a better life, for opportunity. My mom said that, on the plane ride here, I did not want to speak a word of English - I spoke Tagalog. And then, after the first day of school, I didn't want to speak anything but English.

I'm a quarter Chinese and three-quarter Filipino. I don't look Filipino; I look more Chinese or Korean. It actually works in my favor: in terms of roles, it gives me a broader canvas.

You want something? Go get it with single-minded devotion.

When I was about 10, I saw Timothy Bottoms in a tele-movie called 'A Shining Season,' and it really moved me. I was maybe 8 or 9. Timothy played a runner who had cancer, and he defied the odds by coaching a girls' team to victory.

The announcement that I was going to be an actor was made when was I was 10 years old. And that didn't go down all that well, but I had a lot of years to butter up my parents. My parents have mellowed quite a bit, but, growing up, there was a sense that the only real professions were doctor, engineer, lawyer. Those were your choices.

I was made fun of in the Midwest - I was the only Asian in my graduating class of 200. Fortunately, I found my niche, and it was fine. But I wanted to be so white, you wouldn't believe it. I was like, 'I want to be white; I don't want to be this anymore.' But now I embrace it.

I took the 'Lee' from my grandparents, who took care of me during the day while my mom was away working.

I swear to God I was freaked out about the Aswang when I was a kid in the Philippines.

I've played a lot of cops and a lot of bad guys, so I would like to play a regular person and just live a regular life with something interesting about it. I love the idea of television and kind of infiltrating that.

How often, really, do you get a Filipino story line in a show? Not very often. I can't think of any.

I cannot see myself sitting at a desk from nine to five!

I love being the character actor. I get to stretch my muscles a little more.

I speak Cantonese, and I speak Tagalog.

More than anything, it's [yoga] really led to a solid belief in two fundamental things: that we have everything we will ever need, and more, within us, and we are all one. Not only has it given me great lessons in abundance and the infiniteness of our gifts, but it has led to a more conscious enjoyment of my work and my life.

First thing I do when I get up is journal, meditate, read.

Everything we will ever need, we already have within us.

Kusewera, an organization that fosters orphanages in Africa and the Philippines and encourages through creative play and education. Anything and everything that supports cancer research. East West Players, the oldest and biggest Asian American theater in the U.S.

As an Asian American at pilot season you take whatever there is.

Be kind to each other.

Stepping into the "shoes" of someone's life other than my own, great movies such as 'Cinema Paradiso,' scenic landscapes, the work of Daniel Day-Lewis, the books of Joel Goldsmith, traveling, doughnuts, ice cream.

We are all one, so let's help each other out.

Well, 'Grimm' is important to me for obvious reasons. I'm lucky to be able to do what I love to do for a living. I never, ever forget that. And charity work just helps me feel like I'm doing something to support my belief that we are all one. I'd like to actually do more in the future.