I didn’t have a role model. My role model was Michael Jordan. Bad role model for an Indian dude… I didn’t have anyone who looked like me. And by the time I was old enough to have what could have been a role model, they were my peers. Aziz Ansari is my peer. Kal Penn is my peer.
In Afghan society, parents play a central role in the lives of their children; the parent-child relationship is fundamental to who you are and what you become and how you perceive yourself, and it is laden with contradictions, with tension, with anger, with love, with loathing, with angst.
Dan Brown is a character from ‘Foucault’s Pendulum!’ I invented him. He shares my characters’ fascinations – the world conspiracy of Rosicrucians, Masons, and Jesuits. The role of the Knights Templar. The hermetic secret. The principle that everything is connected. I suspect Dan Brown might not even exist.
Behind every easy role, there is a lot of hard work that goes in.
Way I see it, everyone plays their own role in the world, and no role is more important than the other.
When I got a call from Hansal Mehta, the CEO of White Feathers, asking me to come for one of their films, I was very happy. I thought they’d have an interesting role for me. But when I got to know they just wanted me to stand in for Sanjay Dutt for some scenes, I decided to give this offer the pass.
This may sound conceited, but the more predominant the role, the more comfortable I am on set.
My role model was always Xavi Hernandez from Barcelona.
Micro managing anything is not a great role for government.
The National Security Council’s real role is to coordinate the various activities of the government of the United States in the furtherance of American foreign policy.
I have always been a left-winger and an outsider. I loved being that. I was perfectly cheerful with that role. Then suddenly, you’re one of the talking heads on ‘Nightline,’ and you think you must have sold out.
I act according to the requirements of the character, and if I try to play the role, then I play it truthfully. In my daily life, I’m a laid-back, peaceful guy. I’m just doing my job to act.
Leadership is an active role; ‘lead’ is a verb. But the leader who tries to do it all is headed for burnout, and in a powerful hurry.
At the risk of damaging the ‘First Take’ ratings, the God’s truth is I do not hate LeBron James. I actually like the man, who seems as close to being a role model as any superstar can be. He seems to be a good father and husband with a sharing, caring heart.
High bankruptcy rates, increased credit card debt, and identity theft make it imperative that all of us take an active role in providing financial and economic education during all stages of one’s life.
All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.
My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.
I did a film called ‘The Escape Artist’ for Francis Coppola. I had the title role.
I believe very firmly that gay people of every stripe and age should be role models for all children, and that means interacting with them.
When a role for a young guy is being offered to me, I think of River Phoenix. It feels like a loss.
I know some black actresses who have to wait every 19 films for a role. I can be cast in practically every one as a young white male.
For tribal man space was the uncontrollable mystery. For technological man it is time that occupies the same role.
I looked up to my parents because they were very successful in what they wanted to do. I was lucky; I didn’t have to look far for role models.
If the role is challenging enough, I don’t see why I shouldn’t play an older man or a father figure. It is not about playing what you are in real life. We are called actors for a reason!
All I did was basically play myself in the role of Napoleon Solo.
I’ve never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.
Trying to be a leader in a sort of very atypical workplace like ‘Saturday Night Live’ forces you to realize that no one wants you to be their leader. If you can help them get their thing on TV or whatever, they want that. But no adult is looking for a role model.
I can’t imagine that I would have been cast in the role, without Jamie Lee giving me a thumbs up.
One of the reasons you take a role is because it’s something you always wanted to do, from going to the movies as a kid. I always wanted to do a 1950s movie, for example. And I got a chance to be in ‘Peggy Sue Got Married.’ I would have taken only one line of dialogue to be in that.
