Daily Inspiration Quote by Sally Kellerman

The funny sting here is the mismatch between what Hollywood sells as aspiration and what Kellerman frames as escape. "I didn't want to do it" lands like a confession, but it also reads as a quiet flex: she’s implying she had options, taste, and a career compass that pointed elsewhere. Then comes the kicker: "I'd been trying to get out of TV for years!" TV, for most working actors, is stability. Kellerman treats it like a trap you wriggle out of, not a lifeline you cling to. That reversal is the whole engine of the line.

The intent feels twofold: to puncture the myth of eagerness (the dutiful performer grateful for any gig) and to tell the unglamorous truth about professional identity. In her era, especially mid-century into the '70s, television was often coded as lower-status than film and prestige theater. An actor "graduated" out of TV. Kellerman’s phrasing keeps that hierarchy intact, but it also exposes how arbitrary and exhausting it is: years of "trying" suggests a grind of auditions, typecasting, and industry pigeonholes.

Subtext: she’s not merely reluctant; she’s tired of being misread. It’s a defense against being boxed in by the medium and by the expectations attached to it. The ellipsis does a lot of work, signaling the backstage version of success: not a straight climb, but a series of negotiations with work you may resent even as it keeps you visible.