Top 22 Kelly Reilly Quotes

Acting has always been such escapism for me.

I love strong women in films that are allowed to play women and not male fantasies.

I’d love to work on a real girl piece with some fabulous actresses. I feel like I’ve worked with so many men.

I love actresses who are brave and don’t do what’s expected of them or don’t play off how they look or take risks.

You put yourself on tape as an actor a lot – and you send them off, they go out into the ether, and you have no idea what’s going to come back, or when.

I don’t want to be doing fashion shoots and being interviewed about where I shop. Who cares?

I need someone who understands an artist’s mentality. I couldn’t be with someone who wouldn’t let me have my freedom.

I’ve no wish to appear in celebrity magazines.

Every job feels like my first.

I act because I have to, because I need to find out whether I can do it or not – that’s what drives me and excites me and lights me up.

We live in a celebrity-obsessed society.

I think when you’re an actor and you’re drawing on your emotions all the time, you need to be quite steady.

As an actor, you always want to keep it different, change it up, and, you know, just to keep yourself inspired and work with interesting characters.

Theatre is where my heart is. It’s where I can do my best work. And even if I do films and TV, that’s what I want to come back to.

Obviously, education is hugely important, along with healthcare. They’re the basics and you’re hurting your own country if you don’t pour money into them.

Auditioning is a horrible experience because you know you are being absolutely scrutinized and judged. There are days where you can do it and days where it’s just not happening, and I feel like that’s how it is with all artists; you have some days it kind of works.

My personal life, my normal life, is so important to me. To be able to go back to my personal life and leave characters behind is important; I don’t keep them with me.

Being at the pinnacle of my career is not to turn up in some multiplex blockbuster.

The British theatre and establishment is so hard to penetrate, and there are so many talented people involved in it. So, to be counted among some of those actresses… It doesn’t get better than that.

At my school, Shakespeare wasn’t on the syllabus – at least not for me.

You know, I really enjoy longevity. I see actors in their forties and they just turn out these really fabulous roles and characters. You know who they are, but you wouldn’t necessarily know their names.

I’m not temperamentally into high comedy. I’m not a Noel Coward kind of girl.