Quotes from Gary Sinise

My mission is to support our service members. They're volunteers, and if they're going to go to a hostile place like Afghanistan, I think we owe it to them to back them up and try to help them get through it.

Have I done more business-related things to help my career grow? Yeah. I took the business end more seriously, hooked up with a manager, got some help, because at a certain point, you get frustrated when you go do auditions, and people say you did a great job, and then you don't get he part.

I save money when I'm working so that I never have to take a role simply to pay the bills.

Being able to act for a living is a blessing. I have a great theater company that's almost 40 years old.

Sometimes you're in great demand. Then suddenly your career hits the breaks.

My wife's a loving, funny, Irish-spirited person, and I'm still surprised at some of the things she says. She makes me laugh every day.

Well, youre not incorrect on either front, because absolutely, there are children here in this country that need help as are everywhere in the world.

I've never had to compromise myself for a job, ever.

You learn from things that don't go well, and you try to capitalize when they do. You build on those strengths and try to make your weaknesses stronger.

I do spend a lot of weekends on the road. I have to pace myself. It can be pretty busy, but I'm not out in the Afghan desert with 70 pounds on my back, away from my family for a year at a time. I keep a good perspective on it.

The wonderful drama teacher at my high school, Barbara Patterson, saw me standing in the hall and told me I should audition for 'West Side Story.' I guess she thought I looked like a gang member.

Wherever I go for the military, they always call me Lt. Dan. They just can't help it.

I started as an actor. I started directing because Steppenwolf needed another strong director.

Before discovering theater, I was sloughing off and didn't have any passion for school. Then I couldn't get enough. All of a sudden, I was getting good parts in all of these plays. I just loved it. I started getting A's in acting, directing and technical theater. I found something that clicked.

I was always fascinated with rock 'n' roll, or girls, or something like that when I was a kid.

Careers, like rockets, don't always take off on schedule. The key is to keep working the engines.

I'm not like one of those actors who's a frustrated director.

I have a band that I started with a buddy of mine, a Vietnam veteran pal named Kimo Williams from Chicago.

I've directed enough in the theatre and a couple of films to know that - to feel fairly secure that if I find a story that I really like I can probably get it done somewhat.

I go into military communities and do fundraisers and that kind of thing with the band, because I know that the music can help do a lot of things. It can bring communities together, it can raise awareness... and it entertains.

I'm thrilled I can make a living doing something I enjoy.

I'm not registered to any party. I don't really play in the political world. I'm really more interested in getting things done.

I can honestly say that I've done everything I've wanted to do, always. Not without difficulty. But every time I wanted to do something, I just did it, from the age of 18 when I started my own theater with my friends. When I decided I wanted to act. I just bit the bullet.

It's always been my dream to do a dance scene with Anthony Hopkins.