Top 55 Kathy Burke Quotes

What’s important to me is that the ego hasn’t taken over.

I had this laddish way about me, with my deep voice and telling jokes all the time; I was Burkey, the little fella in a skirt.

I was always playing very stupid people, or the fat mate of the main girl.

Not having a mum is massive for a young girl really.

I fell out of love with acting and in love with directing.

I’m a bit obsessed with Lizzo at the moment.

Audiences don’t need to be patronized by being shown in period things how much people smoked.

I’m totally happy with my big, fat self.

I used to get defensive when people asked me, ‘Is it the control that you like about directing?’ I used to say, ‘No!’ But now I’m older, I say, ‘Yeah, it absolutely is!’

I’d always been dead against therapy. I didn’t think you needed to pay someone to talk about yourself.

I’ve got faith in my own talent and I always have.

I needed a check-up from the neck up.

I don’t go there any more. I think I’ve done my time at the Red Lion.

When ‘Nil By Mouth’ was released, people thought that’s what we were actually like, that they’d put me and Ray in front of the cameras and filmed what came out. No acting involved.

Sex education is absolutely important. Kids need to know about sex.

I find acting so tiring!

I’m getting really fed up with the way that girls and women get portrayed a lot of the time.

When I first decided to take off the tap shoes and concentrate on theatre directing, Dominic Dromgoole got in touch to ask if I’d like to do something with Oxford Stage Company. My reaction was negative.

I want to understand rites of passage I’ve never experienced, like motherhood.

Twenty years ago I brought young, unknown film maker Joe Wright with me to a private show of ‘Nil by Mouth.’ Gary Oldman asked me if he was any good. I said, ‘give it a few years and he’ll direct you in a film that will win you an Oscar.’

I’m quite a cantankerous soul. People have this impression that I have a happy disposition. But I’m dark and cynical underneath.

I was born to play Miss Grizzlesniff. I’ve got lots of friends that are little humans who are very excited about me being in ‘School Of Roars.’

The stereotype is that if a woman doesn’t have children she doesn’t like children. I really love kids.

I had two older brothers who kept dirty mags under their mattresses. They didn’t know I knew.

2021 is my 40th year working in the industry and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than directing ‘Holding.’ It’s a beautiful piece of writing with a great story and fantastic, full-bodied characters.

I can smell trouble miles away.

I came on to Twitter in my 50s and I sort of think that was perfect. I am just a ranting old lady really and I like it.

Edinburgh is good craic. A romantic and beautiful city, it’s one those places that makes me smile when I think about it – there are other places I would never dare go back to, but Edinburgh is very special.

Having been a fan of Frantic Assembly for many years I’m really looking forward to working with them as a co-director as it’s something I’ve not done before.

With trans people, I just think you can’t help the way you are born, though. You know, it’s DNA, it’s genetics. I’m just glad people can do things about their own happiness. I think this thought process that they’re trying to wipe out women is a bit ridiculous – it’s a minority of people.

It can be seen as being quite selfish, but I’m very happy to be selfish.

I’m very much a person who walks on egg shells.

I’ve never been motivated by the money, always by the work.

I’ve got one of those really big tellies.

Without meaning to sound anti-men, ghastly women are the closest you get to a male role.

I’m happy to be selfish now. That’s the beauty of getting older.

It bloody annoys me when people forget that we’re actors. Just because we tend to appear in things with our own accents, saying dialogue that comes naturally to us, people think we’re just being ourselves.

I was a very lame skinhead. I had to be in by 8:30 P. M., so I used to pretend that I had a baby sister I had to go home and baby-sit.

I went through moody broody… well, I met one person and I thought ‘if I am going to have a child with anybody it is going to be with this guy. Anyway it didn’t happen because he had a girlfriend and I tried not to sleep with people if they had girlfriends.

I get very excited by these hoity-toity directors with their bells and whistles, but I find simple storytelling done really well just as exciting.

I am always being told off for using bad language but it’s sort of lovely really, because it makes me think of my lovely dad who was constantly shouting at me for bad language.

I didn’t really feel like a girly girl. I didn’t want to wear boob tubes and flared trousers and disco clothes. Then when punk came along it was like, ‘Oh great, I can wear ripped jeans and manky t-shirts and flat caps.’ It was just perfect timing for me.

I have always believed that women should be allowed to do what they want to do.

That’s why I won’t direct film or telly. I can’t do those early mornings anymore. I will only direct theatre because that starts at nine in the morning.

I had to prove that I could understand other aspects of human beings and not just little fat girls.

Money really is a dirty word.

The sad thing in this day and age is kids have access to all sorts of horrible stuff on the Internet and they need to be taught the stuff about love and sex.

I could have my hair really short. I didn’t have to wear dresses, I could wear baggy old T-shirts and ripped trousers and monkey boots and I was desirable to boys that were into the same stuff.

I’m a beautiful person, I know I am.

Imagine being the kids that don’t get the job – you’re just not beautiful enough I’m afraid, my darling, now off you pop and be riddled with insecurities for the rest of your life.

But the more successful I became as an actor, the less control I had. I became more of a puppet, really. It certainly felt like that, at least.

I had mates who lived in tower blocks and I always hated seeing them, because of the lifts, y’know? My God, so scary.

I love playing grotesques, I relish it.

But I don’t have any eyebrows.

I’m quite a solitary person. I like being on my own.