Samantha Morton Quotes

I can't act without music very well.

I'm not a writer. I think I can write short stories and poetry, but film writing, brilliant film writing, is a talent - you can't just do it like that.

What shocks me is that so many people leave care and become homeless, and when you're homeless you get into crime, prostitution and drugs, and it is a vicious circle. That's what we need to change.

I want to prove that you don't have to come from Oxford University or Rada - and you don't have to have parents that support you - to succeed.

I'm an actor. That's what I'm gifted at. It's what makes me breathe.

I was physically abused and I retaliated.

My mind boggles at the amount of violence inflicted upon children in today's society.

Some directors cast you because they trust you to do the performance - but then they forget to direct you.

Everyone wants to look their best, everyone has dreams of wanting to look like something else. But we are who we are.

Coming back into television, I was very, very wary about committing to anything that could potentially take a long time. I don't mind movies, but I was nervous of television.

I will check the internet for at least an hour every morning scanning worldwide news to do with child abuse. So if you're constantly putting yourself in an environment where you're checking up on social economics or homelessness problems, if you keep yourself aware of it, you don't really have a day off.

The more visionary the idea, the more people it leaves behind.

I am proud of what I've done.

I believe it is my duty as a performer to raise issues in the world of things we're afraid to look at.

I think there's a very fine line between the type of performing that some actors do, and being in a state in your mind where you actually believe what's going on. If we weren't actors, what would we do with that ability? Would we not be slightly insane? Mentally ill? I don't know.

I have worked very hard on being aware of my childhood but moving forward and not letting it bring me down emotionally. That is a hard thing - especially when you have children of your own and you remember what happened to you at that age.

I like to stretch my acting muscles.

I was angry but not at God. I feel that you are closer to God when you are messed up. Definitely. That's when you most need God, and God cannot control what man does.

I wanted to make a film - and I've been wanting to do this for 16 years - about life in care, and bring it to the public's attention, because I had never seen anything, on TV or in the cinema, which said: 'This is how it feels to be a kid in care'.

I think once you're a mother to one, you're a mother to them all.

I don't get the point in a lot of biopics, they're boring. You know what's gonna happen. You're just watching actors show off.

I hate the analyzing thing. People say, 'Why do you think your character did that? I don't know. I'm not an analyst, and they're not in psychotherapy. Unless it's a film where they're in therapy.

To be honest with you, a lot of directors can be very lazy.

When you've been raised in care, rap music isn't just about guns and sexism. They're talking about real things you can hang on to, problems of identity that you have sympathy with. It's not just about the music, with rap: when I was in care, it meant a whole lot more than that.

Catholicism played such a huge part in my life, I would not have survived without my faith.

It's important to have masculine energy around your child.

I respond very well to well-written material and women who have had an effect on society, something tragic or monumental has happened to them.

Youve got all these books on self help, getting to know yourself, doing the right thing, eating the so-called right foods, even down to what books you have on your shelves. People are encouraged to look to themselves first as opposed to being a part of society.

I've been acting since I was a child, and though this was different in a way, I think I've been very blessed. The majority of the sets I've been on have been very inclusive and very empowering, and I've often chosen to work with people that sing from the same song sheet.

It's fantastic to strive towards a nice life where you eat nice organic food and your children go to a nice school and you can afford nice clothes and nice perfume and the hypoallergenic make-up. But there's never a day goes by, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, that I don't think about where I'm from.

I think anybody who has been abused as a kid - and I was abused as a kid, by various people - will say it's irrational because violence is irrational.

We're all living blinkered lives, and we're not seeing what's going on and looking to change it. I'm not saying that everyone has to make a political statement, but we need to be more aware of what's happening and why.

I could be equally happy on a film set or in the middle of a field.

I had literally the time of my life, and thought, "Wow. Television doesn't seem to be as crazy as it was when I was a kid." The dream for me was always to be in the movies, you know. But when this came along, I read the first script and I thought, "Oh, my gosh. This is incredible."

I just get really defensive as soon as anyone comes near my personal life. I made a decision early on that it's strictly off-limits. No exceptions.

There are brothels now that are run a certain way, and women make educated choices to become part of the sex industry. Their health is taken care of, and their children can be put through school. But, sadly, there's the underbelly of that, and I think that back then women did hold a lot more power in that regard.

I'll never get a part in a huge action blockbuster.