Quotes from Rocky Carroll

I'm surprised sometimes at the responsibilities you have as a director.

I think Mercutio in 'Romeo and Juliet' would be my favorite role. I've never played it, but I would love to do it.

Television had a black president long before Barack Obama.

When I grew up in Cincinnati in 1974, the Board of Education set up the performing school, similar to the New York performing arts school, and it was in walking distance from my school.

After the series 'Roc' ended, every role offer I got was for the wise-cracking, ne'er-do-well brother or boyfriend, and I could have made a very good career doing those characters.

My first live performance was the lead in 'Peter Pan.'

I was a class clown. I realized early on feeling very comfortable in front of people.

As an actor, you can believe that you are the reason for a show's success, but these things are a brand name now. They're like Coca-Cola. It's like, with or without you, people are still gonna drink it.

Theater is such a collaborative art. Hollywood is a competitive sport.

You may look at the people who sell the pages of the tabloids, and they're more famous for their personal exploits. I know all about these people, but when was the last time I saw something they've done or bought an album?

'Roc' was sort of an experiment because none of the lead actors on our show had any real television experience, especially in half-hour TV.

It was 1995, the year Ben Crenshaw won the Masters. I was watching on TV, and I remember watching him sink his final putt on the 18th hole. He broke down in tears because his coach, Harvey Penick, had just died. I sat there watching with a box of Kleenex, wiping tears from my eyes and going, 'OK, this is crazy - I'm crying over golf!'

We kind of forget because what television tends to do with these professions like lawyers and doctors and police officers, we create them on such a heroic level that you kind of forget that these are really people.

If you're famous for being famous, that's usually a four-year career.

There's an art to being a good actor, there's an art to being a celebrity, and there's an art to longevity.

I never wanted to become an actor to be famous. I just wanted to be a good actor. It served me pretty well.

There are not that many people who can say they have been on a show long enough to leave it. Usually, you don't have a choice. The show gets canceled. There are very few people who live in the rare air of being able to leave a show while it is still in production.

You can play yourself and make a very good career out of it. Do the same type of role, the daring, good-looking, dashing kind of guy. I mean, there's a role for that guy in television, films, whatever. But people who are able to shape-shift and go from drama to comedy to whatever, there's an art to it. Especially in Hollywood.

The guy who shows up on time, who has a good work ethic, network executives and producers know that. It's a very small industry we work in.

A free and democratic society is not the norm. When you look to the history books, world history was not based on great democratic societies but on imperialism, absolute rule, kings, queens, monarchs, dictators.

I always love the holiday episodes, because you really get to see everybody at their best.

As an actor, you can think your way out of a lot of good things sometimes. I trust my instincts as an actor, and I trust the instincts of the creators, so it's a good combination.

As an actor, you get into makeup, you get into hair, you come out of your trailer, and you hit your mark. As a director, you're the first one there and the last one to leave.

I went from a sitcom to a hospital drama, feature films. I've kind of been living the actor's dream. I'm not associated with one role or one medium. You're lucky if you're associated with one hit show.