I actually like to audition. I prefer to audition for something because I don't want to walk onto a stage or a set and [have someone] say, "You are so far away from what I thought you were going to bring in." I would feel more comfortable to audition and say, "Here's my take on it - take it or leave it".

Laurie Metcalf

Categorized in : Far Away

My profession is about as far away from growing up in southern Illinois as you can get.

Laurie Metcalf

illinois growing-up southern

I almost never give interviews. It's not because I want to play hard to get. It's just that I never seem to have anything interesting to say.

Laurie Metcalf

play-hard giving interesting

I'm hideously shy as myself but on stage I can run around naked and bite the heads off fish.

Laurie Metcalf

naked shy running

Theater opened up a whole new world for me. It was a freedom I'd never known before.

Laurie Metcalf

theater whole world

When I go to see something I'm in, or my friends are in, it's like a home movie. When I just go to the movies and don't know anyone in it, then it's a real movie.

Laurie Metcalf

my-friends real home

I've loved every minute of every hour I've spent doing theatre.

Laurie Metcalf

hours minutes theatre

I've been directed by other actors, and being an actor doesn't make you a good director.

Laurie Metcalf

good-directors actors directors

I'm happy whenever I'm in a rehearsal room. I've always gotten all my energy and creativity in there.

Laurie Metcalf

rehearsal creativity energy

I was too practical to major in theater. Acting - what was I going to do with acting? There was no future in it.

Laurie Metcalf

practicals theater acting

I like to play a wide range of characters. The more they're unlike me, the better I like it.

Laurie Metcalf

range play character

I was an office secretary for a long time. A good secretary.

Laurie Metcalf

long-time office long

I don't like working in front of a camera.

Laurie Metcalf

fronts cameras

Really, I'll go anywhere at any time to continue working in theater - it's a passion that I'm thankful I still have. It keeps me creative and on my toes and meeting great people. I can't imagine a better way of working than on a play.

Laurie Metcalf

passion play people

Onstage I'm the one in control - I'm not at the mercy of how an editor chooses to put the scene together later. I can do things onstage that I would never do in real life. It's very freeing.

Laurie Metcalf

editors real together

I work just as hard and have just as much fun whether in a 50-seat house or in a 1000-seat house. It's a luxury to be in a tiny space every once in a while and a rush to be on a giant stage every once in a while.

Laurie Metcalf

luxury space fun

When one thing ends, you put it away and start from scratch on the next thing.

Laurie Metcalf

scratches next ends

Every part I get, I just think I'm so lucky. They're so hard to get, you know.

Laurie Metcalf

lucky knows thinking

One of the hardest things about directing is just to be patient and remind yourself that you've been in Week 1 of a rehearsal process yourself, and you know what it feels like.

Laurie Metcalf

yourself know you process

I want to be thinking as quickly as I need to as soon as I hit the stage. I want to have a vocal warm-up.

Laurie Metcalf

need stage want thinking

I was horribly shy all through grade school and high school. But somehow I got up the nerve to audition for one play in high school - 'Auntie Mame.' I got a small part as the fiancee who comes on in the end. I got laughs. I wasn't shy at all doing the part. I can do anything on stage and write it off as a character.

Laurie Metcalf

end high-school character school