Work was never about wanting fame or money. I never thought about that. I loved getting the job, going to rehearsal, playing someone else, hanging around with a bunch of actors. I needed that, the way you need water.
I think there are different kinds of fame. There's fame which is plastic and about paparazzi and money and being rich, and then there's the fame, which is when no one knows who you are but everyone wants to know who you are.
When we talk about having a life of significance and meaning, it's not about fame or money or resources. It's about people and lives and hearts. That's my biggest passion in life.
I didn't even know how to speak Hindi or act. I didn't think about fame and money. I didn't talk about money with the producers, as I was a minor. My parents handled that part. But I am from a family where money was never an issue.
Don't get it twisted. It's not about money, it's not about the fame. It's about I don't have to worry about if my little brother is gonna be able to get a new toy for Christmas. It's those little tiny things that really make up the bigger picture. So, my happiness doesn't come from money or fame. My happiness comes from seeing life without struggle.
I love acting, but I'm not too crazy about money or fame. They don't drive me.
There's a funny thing about fame. The truth is you run as fast as you can towards it because it's everything you want. Not just the fame but what it represents, meaning work, meaning opportunity. And then you get there, and it's shocking how immediately you become enveloped in this world that is incredibly restricting.
Acting is not about competing. Acting is about cooperating. Acting is about collaboration. It's about your utility, your usefulness, your capacity to add to the work that has already been done and will be done. You're just part of a team. I never feel competitive about acting.
'Great Expectations' has been described as 'Dickens's harshest indictment of society.' Which it is. After all, it's about money. About not having enough money; about the fever of the getting of money; about having too much money; about the taint of money.
When I started acting almost 50 years ago, it wasn't about fame. It was about acting.
Most everything I do on a creative level is beyond the fame and money. I sort of work as an actor... and take care of my family and mouths to feed and all of that. I don't really care about fame, but our business means money sometimes and financial success, which I can pass on to my family.
I loved that people loved my dad. He never said no to an autograph but didn't make fame a "thing" or act any differently. And it was beautiful to have that support from his fan base when I started to study acting.
I never cared about money or fame, and I don't care now. I follow the groove, and money always follows.
Great Expectations [book by Charles Dickens] has been described as "Dickens's harshest indictment of society." Which it is. After all, it's about money. About not having enough money; about the fever of the getting of money; about having too much money; about the taint of money.
I never really got the chance to scream about some of the painful things. In the book, I look at my whole life experience, at ego and fame, too.
I'd never thought about acting as a job. I was an engineer; I was in science and technology. I loved movies and television growing up, but I'd never thought about it as, 'Oh, that guy Denzel Washington is employed as an actor.'