Quotes from Terry O'Quinn

I have two concerns with my work: having good things to act, and getting paid. In that order. Although if you're not getting paid well, that order can change. But that's what I'm concerned about. Good scenes. Decent money.

It's amazing to me - what is this love affair we have with bad guys? With the bad boy in high school, with the anti-hero, et cetera, et cetera? Because I was always just a very nice boy. I didn't get it.

It's amazing how you cross paths with people. You work intimately, and then you never see them again the rest of your life, or even speak.

I can relate to somebody wanting to have something to believe in.

I have done a few roles that I've never watched, and if I happen to be flicking through channels and one pops up, I quickly move on. It's hard enough to sustain some self confidence without being reminded of things we'd rather not revisit but, in the end, it comes with the territory.

I understand what 'Lost' was, and I count my blessings. I'm usually happy to talk to people. I don't think I've ever had anybody say anything negative to me about it except, 'I didn't get the ending. What the hell was that all about?' And I'm like, 'Talk to Damon Lindelof!'

Really, I think of fame as distracting; it's something you have to get around.

There's no particular formula for 'Lost.' I mean, I think there were a few attempts to follow it and copy it, but it's a one-off, you know?

I was raised in the country. I haven't spent any time in the cities that people say are the best. I haven't spent much time in Chicago or San Francisco.

When I find a golf course or a restaurant or a market that I like, that's pretty much exclusively where I go.

'Heaven's Gate' I remember, because it was the first movie I ever was cast in.

It's easier to be healthy in Hawaii than it is, almost anywhere else I've lived. You spend a lot of time outside, in the ocean and on the beach.

I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles, but I probably wouldn't say it's my favorite city.

I don't like Type-A actors, and I don't like Type-A golfers. I like people who relax into what they do and who enjoy it for the process.

It's funny to be discovered by a lot of people who didn't know you before. People always used to say, 'Do you shop at Home Depot?' or 'Does your kid go to such and such school?' They want to know why they know me, even if they don't know my name. I don't think that's a bad thing, by the way; I think it's nice to be kind of anonymously famous.

People ask me, 'Are you worried you're going to be typecast as a John Locke type of guy?' I say he's the perfect guy to be typecast as! He's vulnerable and ambitious and sort of unstable. It was a good actor's role.

'The Stepfather' was the first time I sort of carried a film, or led in a film, and doing it was fun, and I felt very special. Afterwards, though, I was terrified. I just thought, 'Wow, this is basically going to be about me. If this film is a success or a failure, a lot of it's on me!'

I so rarely turned down a role, that I can't say I have any regrets in that regard. There were many roles that I would rather not have done, but having a home and family requires that we sometimes do things we would rather not.

Yeah, I like working in television, a lot. I really enjoyed my time on 'Lost.' I like developing that hint of family with people. I mean, if you're on a happy set. If you're on a set where there's some sour apples, then I don't like working in television.

I think when you get to a certain age, older people become more emotional than younger people.

I developed more as an actor in the course of 'Lost' than I had in any period in my career before because they trusted me and allowed me to use the tools that I finally brought out. And quite honestly, it's only been since 'Lost' that I've had any sort of financial stability.

I found my faith to be more about my belief, my spirituality, about nature.

The normal state of an actor is unemployed.

I don't think I could play a character that I couldn't relate to somehow. I'm not unfamiliar with frustration, anger, shame, helplessness and a load of other emotions that make up our psycho-soup. I try to focus on that frustration, that sense of unfairness, and multiply it.