Terry O'Quinn Quotations

I have done a few roles that I've never watched, and if I happen to be flicking through channels and one pops up, I quickly move on. It's hard enough to sustain some self confidence without being reminded of things we'd rather not revisit but, in the end, it comes with the territory.

When I find a golf course or a restaurant or a market that I like, that's pretty much exclusively where I go.

I don't think I could play a character that I couldn't relate to somehow. I'm not unfamiliar with frustration, anger, shame, helplessness and a load of other emotions that make up our psycho-soup. I try to focus on that frustration, that sense of unfairness, and multiply it.

I can relate to somebody wanting to have something to believe in.

I'll watch golf while I work out. I'm your average golf fan.

I have two concerns with my work: having good things to act, and getting paid. In that order. Although if you're not getting paid well, that order can change. But that's what I'm concerned about. Good scenes. Decent money.

I so rarely turned down a role, that I can't say I have any regrets in that regard. There were many roles that I would rather not have done, but having a home and family requires that we sometimes do things we would rather not.

Yeah, I like working in television, a lot. I really enjoyed my time on 'Lost.' I like developing that hint of family with people. I mean, if you're on a happy set. If you're on a set where there's some sour apples, then I don't like working in television.

I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles, but I probably wouldn't say it's my favorite city.

Really, I think of fame as distracting; it's something you have to get around.

It's funny to be discovered by a lot of people who didn't know you before. People always used to say, 'Do you shop at Home Depot?' or 'Does your kid go to such and such school?' They want to know why they know me, even if they don't know my name. I don't think that's a bad thing, by the way; I think it's nice to be kind of anonymously famous.

I like New York in the spring and in the fall. It's one of the best cities to walk that I've ever been in.

When you're convinced that you're right and you believe that you have the license to do anything because you're right, you can be bossy and you can be dangerous. You can be oppressive. You can be a tyrant.

I think that you only occasionally have to play evil because everything you're doing is.

We all hope we have something else to do. We're going to be unemployed actors. It's a consistent state of being a professional actor, in my experience.

It's easier to be healthy in Hawaii than it is, almost anywhere else I've lived. You spend a lot of time outside, in the ocean and on the beach.

I'm not sure it's possible to stay in Hawaii. It's kind of impractical.