Quotes About Rejection

I played for Miami, with LeBron. They cut me. I got drafted by the Lakers, they traded me to Miami. Bron got there, they cut me. I remember it like it was yesterday. So yeah, it's a chip on my shoulder.

I'm, like, the only actor in New York who's never, ever been on any 'Law & Order.' And I've auditioned for so many. The sad thing is I love 'Law & Order.' I'm really obsessed with it. And they always said to me, 'You seem like you're making fun of the material.'

I often feel that my days in New York City, that I was here for five years, didn't get one job, went on a thousands of auditions and literally did not get a job on a soap, not a movie, not TV, not nothing, although I did do some commercials thank God.

New York publishing is about, 'What's the next Harry Potter? What's the next Twilight?' When I've approached people, I've asked, 'What is the book you've been dying to do, but New York won't do?' I want the books that they think won't sell - because I think they will.

I've taken pictures in at least 14 countries, and nowhere have people told me 'no' more than New York City.

That always stuck with me. When I finished school in 2015, I started going to open calls in New York. But I was getting the same response every time: 'Get your measurements down. Take X inches off your thighs and hips.'

'Royal Beatings' was my first story, and it was published in 1977. But I sent all my early stories to 'The New Yorker' in the 1950s, and then I stopped sending for a long time and sent only to magazines in Canada. 'The New Yorker' sent me nice notes, though - penciled, informal messages. They never signed them. They weren't terribly encouraging.

It was memorable the first time 'The New Yorker' bought a cartoon from me. I had been sending them batches for years every week, and they didn't respond to them.

I wanted to be a literary writer, so I wrote story after story and sent them to 'The New Yorker.'

I have a lot of respect for my fellow young actors. It takes a lot to push forward after being told no a million times, and that was what we all have to go through. So those who push deserve respect.

I turned down one of the big young adult franchises.

You start at a young age, going on auditions, and you think you did a good job and expect to get that role, and you don't, and it's a letdown, a disappointment. So you tell yourself to just do the work and disconnect, because you have no control over the outcome.

From a young age, I was always very transparent, and that's why the kids' mums didn't like me. I would tell you if I didn't like your beans on toast.

I went from someone who really wanted to perform from a really young age - that was all I knew - to going on 'X-Factor', which I thought was going to be the most incredible experience ever and it becoming the worst experience of my life.

The idea of a young girl who knows exactly what she wants with her life is the most threatening and unappealing thing you can imagine.

I was a 19 year old kid; I was 170 lbs soaking wet. I didn't have an identity. I didn't have a look. I didn't have the proper gear. I was just a young guy trying to be a wrestler. So, to be honest, WWE didn't even give me a second look.

I can remember getting rejected systematically by casting directors as a young kid. I felt like the biggest outsider there ever was; that I'd never belong in that club.

When I was in my formative years, I rejected Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, and Dean Martin. I now realise they were all great artists, but at the time, as a young man, you have to clear the decks.

A Tennessee fan mailed me things I signed for him because they said they don't want this trash in their house. So they mailed it back to me.

I get mad at people who talk about traumatic job interviews, about going on one and getting rejected. I get rejected all the time and not only do I get rejected, but people have no problem being really specific about why I was rejected.

Auditioning for 'Philomena' was such a traumatic experience because I had three callbacks, and I was absolutely positive that I was just an option.

I'm compared to Kerouac, I suppose, because he traveled and rejected middle-class values, but the similarities end there.

My life plan was to get into drama school and become an actor, but it took me three years. I applied while I was still at school in my final year, and I didn't get in anywhere, so I took a job in a comedy club - not doing stand-up comedy, because that's my idea of hell, but in the office - and I went traveling.

When I was about 15 I had already been recording on my four track in my room, but I couldn't find anyone in my town to be in a band with me. I was in a band very briefly with a bunch of guys and they kicked me out because they wanted to play grindcore. I think they didn't think I could tread hard enough or something. So I started playing solo.