Quotes from Vijay Sethupathi

I don't have a role model.

We are actors. We can adapt to any different look for the sake of the story and the character.

The story is important for any movie, for it is in the film industry, the consumer pays the money before he or she gets the product. So, the responsibility of delivering a good product is on us.

All my films have turned out well only because of the director's brilliance, not because of me.

Audience come with expectations, and our job is to engage them for two hours. We take efforts to make the story more interesting and also present it in such a way that it is liked by all the audience.

I don't believe a role can be written keeping in mind some actor. Even if such roles exist, I don't pick them because I generally choose roles that I think will suit my image.

One of my biggest drawbacks is my inability to maintain my physique. I put on weight for 'Soodhu Kavvum' and never managed to shed it. Luckily, that look suited a few films, including 'Orange Mittai.'

When my parents force-fed me healthy food, they were confident they were giving me the best. But now, when I feed my children, I am not sure if what I am giving them is safe. Politics and pesticides are destroying our food culture.

I have to consider the amount of business that my name can do and choose my projects carefully.

We have to eradicate caste.

I came to cinema for money. I had to settle a loan of Rs 10 lakh. I had no other go, so I thought I'd try my luck in films. I was earning Rs 25,000 at that time. It was not even enough for my family.

I surrender to my directors. I do that because I respect them immensely. In fact, a director's talent scares me. I admit that they're more intelligent than me, and I submit to that, as an assistant director does. Even when I have suggestions to make, I don't state them strongly.

I used to hang out with a group of aspiring directors before 'Pizza' happened. We used to discuss a lot of stories all the time.

I am not bothered about my career graph, as I am someone who doesn't believe in planning things.

I have always felt that doing too much of homework makes the performance look plastic. I don't even watch the monitor after I finish my scene because I can't reprise it. I just go with the flow.

I've never consciously done 'safe' commercial projects; luckily, they have done well.

I had no interest in cinema until I was 24 years old. My friends had posters of their favourite stars in their houses, but I was far from a film buff - very detached from films.

I am a bad dancer.

I want to make my kind of films but make them work commercially, too. When my presentation meets the director's imagination, the result will be great.

Planning bores me. I like to go with the flow. Being whimsical is nice, occasionally. It keeps things fresh; there's no expectation.

There is no hard and fast rule that I only work with debutants. I give prime importance to script, and when that works out, everything else falls in place automatically. In fact, most debutants express interest to work with me.

Directing films is easier said than done. The job needs a lot of sensibility to put many things in place.

As an actor, you need to use everything at your disposal.

As an actor, I always feel that each and every character in my films has to be distinct. The character Thilak that I play in 'Kavan' will be one such unique role in my career.