Top 40 Essie Davis Quotes

I think my morals are perfectly… tight!

I learn the techniques and then take what I need. I have the Essie Davis technique of acting. I’m an instinctive actress.

Even if the Tonys aren’t as glitzy as the Oscars, being a part of the ceremony is no less exciting.

I don’t know if I want to walk down the street and have everyone staring. I think that would be awful. I’m a pretty shy person, really.

I often get mistaken for all different kinds of ages; some of them flattering, some of them not.

I have learnt a lot about theatre, and I would like to know the same about film.

Goals are essentially private things.

I’m a fan of mindfulness, and if colouring in is a way of reaching mindfulness, then I think it’s great. But I’m amazed that anyone has the time to do that. I certainly don’t.

It’s nice being married to somebody who thinks you’ve got something better in you.

Getting fan mail from Brazil is kind of funny.

Awards and nominations really help sell films.

It’s such a magnificent thing to be able to love someone and expect nothing from them.

Most mothers think they are bad mothers. We all make terrible mistakes, often, and always think we’re getting it wrong.

I always knew I wanted to go to NIDA. I think I was very fortunate, and I do doubt myself often, but I didn’t see any possibility of me not going to NIDA. I believed in myself, and I believed that, if you really do want something, you get it.

The news is so instantly available to us without delay, interpretation, or a filter. What is hot right now is streamed live without context or perspective.

Trying to get over to the ‘on camera’ side of things has been hard work.

I’m just a very fortunate actor who has not been typecast.

I honestly do think that every character – you pick up the things, little things that you like about them in your life. Especially if you play a character for a long time.

Phryne Fisher could walk down the red carpet; Essie Davis is something else.

I think you’ve got to understand your character and where they’re coming from.

I do like having a private life.

As soon as you become a parent, everyone gives you their parenting advice. It’s like an onslaught of information about how other people do it.

I think it’s an actor’s gift to be as old as people think you are.

I feel lucky that I’ve managed to get the roles I’ve wanted.

Even though I love fashion and the red carpet dresses are a great, fun, glorious thing, I don’t really have my finger on the pulse, as Phryne Fisher does, of the fashion industry.

There are some jobs that you go for because achieving them would take your career in a direction that you would like it to go, but mostly, I want to play the roles and have had the great good fortune and opportunities to play some fantastic roles and been very, very fortunate.

Everyone has a point of view about corporal punishment.

I was terrified of being a mum because I didn’t think I’d ever be grown up enough.

Being a mother impacts every aspect of your life. It’s a rite of passage which gives you an entirely different outlook on things.

I want to have the great roles that move people profoundly. I want to have the choice and be given the opportunity to play those roles, and unfortunately, fame plays a huge part in that.

‘The Custodian’ was my first film, and there were so many lessons to learn in that week. It was really fun, but for me, I look at it as a training film, and I’m not really proud of my work in it.

I personally don’t resent having my children.

Sometimes it’s easy to do brave things in front of a thousand people, but it’s hard to do them in front of a handful. It feels so much more exposing.

I’ve had really a great choice of roles that have been very different from one another. And I think I kind of set out to do that when I began my career – to aim to never play the same thing twice.

I love Australia and loved growing up here, and that’s something I don’t want to deny our children, but it’s difficult sustaining a career in Australia.

I never said I wanted to be a movie star.

Parenting is meant to be just a natural part of life. You just think you know how to do it but, of course, it’s much more complicated than that.

There’s something great about being on location with a bunch of people – there’s a camaraderie and intimacy that builds up over time.

I grew up with a love of words.

There are many books that I love dearly, and I’ve seen many televised or film recreations that I just haven’t thought were up to scratch.