"I know I work quite hard at making people like me"
About this Quote
The subtext is need, but also professionalism. "Work" is the key word. In a culture that romanticizes charisma as effortless, he frames likability as something constructed, maintained, and sometimes performed. That lands differently in the current era of celebrity-as-brand, where the expectation isn’t just to be good at your job but to be broadly agreeable in interviews, on social media, at awards shows. Spall’s phrasing quietly acknowledges the pressure to be palatable while refusing to prettify it.
There’s also a defensive tenderness here: "quite hard" suggests experience with being misunderstood, typed as gruff, odd, or too intense. Spall has often played figures who are complicated, even abrasive; the line hints at the offscreen counterbalance - a conscious softening, a reaching out. It’s a reminder that the warmth we credit to a "good natured" public figure can be as crafted as any performance, and no less real for being made on purpose.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Spall, Timothy. (n.d.). I know I work quite hard at making people like me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-know-i-work-quite-hard-at-making-people-like-me-136451/
Chicago Style
Spall, Timothy. "I know I work quite hard at making people like me." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-know-i-work-quite-hard-at-making-people-like-me-136451/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I know I work quite hard at making people like me." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-know-i-work-quite-hard-at-making-people-like-me-136451/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.




