"I'm satisfied to go in at the bottom - that's the best way to learn what things are all about"
About this Quote
The second clause, "that's the best way to learn what things are all about", is where the actor's pragmatism shows. Romero isn't talking about abstract wisdom; he's talking about the mechanics of a set, the hierarchy of a studio, the unglamorous labor that makes charisma legible on camera. The subtext is professional survival. If you understand how the machine works from the ground up, you can navigate it without being swallowed by it - or fooled by its illusions.
Context matters: Romero's career spans old Hollywood's factory system and the later era when celebrity became its own job description. He played everything from romantic leads to his famously campy Joker on Batman, a role that required being in on the joke without winking too hard. That longevity suggests a performer who treated craft as infrastructure. The quote lands as a quietly subversive credo: start at the bottom, not because you lack star power, but because you want leverage - the kind that comes from knowing who actually does what, and why it works.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Romero, Cesar. (2026, January 15). I'm satisfied to go in at the bottom - that's the best way to learn what things are all about. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-satisfied-to-go-in-at-the-bottom-thats-the-141848/
Chicago Style
Romero, Cesar. "I'm satisfied to go in at the bottom - that's the best way to learn what things are all about." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-satisfied-to-go-in-at-the-bottom-thats-the-141848/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm satisfied to go in at the bottom - that's the best way to learn what things are all about." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-satisfied-to-go-in-at-the-bottom-thats-the-141848/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.



