Quotes from Jordan Gavaris

TV is art. It's mass art. It's accessible to the masses.

I'm interested in telling a story about a gay man and what he's going through as an artist and as a lonely, single gay man. I want to reveal what I know about loneliness.

I learned that the acting I really like is when the actors did a lot of bringing themselves, and where they're at at the moment, to the character.

I do a bit of work on my bum, but, like, I don't have a Dylan Bruce bum.

For 'Orphan Black,' all I got was the pilot script, and that was enough for me. I was daydreaming about this part. I kept thinking about how certain scenes were going to play out and how these interactions were going to take place.

I just don't know when, as a society... it sort of only became OK to represent gay people in the traditional sense, where they have a great job and well-adjusted parents and maybe a surrogate or adopted child. When was that the only way you could represent gay people?

I realized there's a difference between creating a character and sustaining a character. The challenge that comes with sustaining a character is that you have this sudden impulse to think about all the things the audience liked.

I consume a lot of television and a lot of movies, and I love watching other actors work and am just very inspired by it.

One time, I was literally stopped on the street, literally and physically whipped around by this guy who looked at my face and was like, 'Are you Felix?' I looked very different then. I was like, 'Yah... Oh, yah!' I was stunned and slightly frightened.

I don't win anything in life, you know what I mean? I was, like, the awkward kid who didn't go to prom, but I did - nobody noticed, though.

I started acting professionally when I was about 17. I worked immediately, but a year into it, I did an independent film in Canada, and that started it all. It was proof that maybe I could do this as a career.

As I got into middle school, I was really an outcast. But everybody was an outcast in middle school. I don't know who got the idea to put all kids going through puberty together in a school and give them academic elitism and competition and pit them against each other.

I'm a bit of a geek, and I really like 'Buffy.'

I think that the worst thing as an actor is to fall into a monotony with characters.

Toronto is actually way more fast-paced than L.A. - I find the fast-paced nature of Toronto a bit obtrusive. In L.A., I love getting up and going hiking and going to the beach - that's L.A. culture and it's awesome and I miss it. Toronto culture is wonderful, but I miss L.A.

You cannot collectively, as a society, decide that you are only going to represent one part of a minority. It's like saying you've represented black people on television because you aired an episode of the 'Cosbys.'

Sometimes animal exercises can help you get in touch with parts of yourself that you don't access day to day. In my day-to-day physicality, I'm a little bit like a terrier. I've always been described as a dog. I'm kind of goofy and a little dopey looking sometimes.

I love acting and will take all the time to continue to act. But sometimes I'd like to try my hand at directing.

I actually love woodworking. I'm just getting into it. And I love playing guitar, I'm a big movie aficionado, and I like hiking.

The artistic side of a person is never narcissist; it's always empathic. It's always kind and compassionate.

There's a reason why VOD is so popular. You don't have to wait. There's instant gratification.

Even in the face of tragedy, human beings need to find a way to laugh. It's normal. It's life.

I was one of those kids who kept trying on different skins in high school. I was very afraid to be myself around all of these kids, to really reveal any part of myself that was true, so I would try on different skins, try on different masks, hoping I'd hit on one that was cool or quirky or interesting enough that suddenly I would be OK.

I love Tom Wilkinson and Tommy Lee Jones as well as Jessica Chastain. But the person I look up to most, not because I identify with her roles but because of who she is as a person, is Sissy Spacek.