Rocky Carroll

“There are always going to be hospital dramas because if you're sitting in an emergency room for two hours, I guarantee you you are going to see something that makes you gasp. That's where drama comes from.”

“The guy who shows up on time, who has a good work ethic, network executives and producers know that. It's a very small industry we work in.”

“People forget that, as artists, you are constantly looking to evolve and grow.”

“I have six siblings but grew up an only child. I was adopted by my aunt and uncle.”

“Actors on stage, you can go from playing a myriad of roles, from Shakespeare to a Eugene O'Neil drama, and it's the norm. I came up in a world where you're supposed to be able to do three things very well. Act, sing, dance, paint, do something. The emphasis was on versatility.”

“Any day, the tide could turn. You have one or two bad films, and now you've got to make a comeback.”

“You can play yourself and make a very good career out of it. Do the same type of role, the daring, good-looking, dashing kind of guy. I mean, there's a role for that guy in television, films, whatever. But people who are able to shape-shift and go from drama to comedy to whatever, there's an art to it. Especially in Hollywood.”

“I think 'director' is a very broad term. I like to think of myself as the head collaborator, not the director, because I think, for a lot of people, 'director' connotes giving orders and telling people what to do.”

“After the series 'Roc' ended, every role offer I got was for the wise-cracking, ne'er-do-well brother or boyfriend, and I could have made a very good career doing those characters.”

“My first live performance was the lead in 'Peter Pan.'”

“If you can appeal to another person's sense of humor, you can introduce ideas, thoughts, things that they may disagree with or not believe in. At least they'll listen.”

“A free and democratic society is not the norm. When you look to the history books, world history was not based on great democratic societies but on imperialism, absolute rule, kings, queens, monarchs, dictators.”

“It's so funny because, here in Hollywood, an actor who really is versatile and who has the ability to transform between comedy and drama roles is considered a rarity.”

“I went from a sitcom to a hospital drama, feature films. I've kind of been living the actor's dream. I'm not associated with one role or one medium. You're lucky if you're associated with one hit show.”

“I've worked on shows where the actors don't talk to each other, and if they want to talk to each other, they talk through the director. What kind of existence is this? If I have to spend 14 hours a day with somebody, we're in a relationship. We'd better talk it out.”

“As an actor, you can believe that you are the reason for a show's success, but these things are a brand name now. They're like Coca-Cola. It's like, with or without you, people are still gonna drink it.”

“There are not that many people who can say they have been on a show long enough to leave it. Usually, you don't have a choice. The show gets canceled. There are very few people who live in the rare air of being able to leave a show while it is still in production.”

“I'm the only one in the family who stumbled into acting.”

“As an actor, you get into makeup, you get into hair, you come out of your trailer, and you hit your mark. As a director, you're the first one there and the last one to leave.”

“My first venture into TV was a half-hour sitcom on Fox called 'Roc.'”