Tina Majorino Quotes
"I hope that they see this film as sweet and endearing, and I hope that they take away that being yourself is the most important thing, not trying to be something that you're not. Whether that means that you're a popular kid or a geek like the kids in the movie, being true to yourself is worth more than any money you can ever have." - When asked what she hoped audiences would take away from watching Napoleon Dynamite. (From Venice Magazine June 2004)
"No, because I chose to have the childhood that I had. I was not pushed into the business by anything other than my own ambition and my own dream of wanting to act. And I think that even though I don't have a bunch of cool stories about those great proms, I have great stories of my own about places that I've gone to that a lot of people have never gotten to go to. I'm so grateful for the experiences I've had. I've had great opportunities, and have met great people. I'm completely satisfied with how I grew up and the choices I made." - When asked whether or not she felt that she missed out on a normal childhood. (From Venice Magazine June 2004)
"Growing up in general is difficult for everyone. Ordinarily during the stage of your life when you're going through your adolescence and you're completely awkward and uncomfortable, the rest of the world isn't watching you with bated breath. It's different when you're an actor and you choose to work your way through that period because it only makes it worse. Taking 5 years off was the best decision I've made so far, for myself and for my career. People always say, "But you could've been so famous by now if you would've just worked during those 5 years!" I'm not in it for the fame and it's definitely not worth it to me to have the fame but no sense of who I am whatsoever. I didn't want to become so many of the young people I've worked with who have money, fame, and success but don't know who they are as people. At the end of the day, just because one of your films does well at the box office that doesn't make you a good person. It doesn't make you strong, smart, or secure either. I'd rather have those three things and know that if I decided to quit this job tomorrow that I could make it comfortably through the rest of my life because I know myself very well, then have fame and a bunch of money that's never going to buy me a manual to ME." - On why she quit acting for 5 years.
"If I based all of my decisions on what everyone else had to say, I wouldn't be where I am now. You'd drive yourself crazy trying to please everyone else. In this business people always have something to say about what you're doing. Sometimes it's positive, sometimes it's negative. In the end, you just can't give a shit. You've gotta go with your gut and do what's right for you, ya know?"
