"It would be interesting if this sitcom works, so I could be doing one thing all the time instead of going back and forth between all this different media which I sort of thrive on, I'm a bit of a moving target in that way"
About this Quote
There is a quietly delicious contradiction baked into Stockard Channing's wish for stability: she wants the sitcom to "work" so she can stop ping-ponging across media, yet she admits the very restlessness she wants to escape is what keeps her alive. The line plays like an offhand confession, but it's really a tiny manifesto about surviving in an industry that rewards branding while punishing anyone who can't be neatly shelved.
Channing frames success not as prestige but as logistics: one job, one rhythm, one sustained identity. That's the working actor's dream hidden beneath celebrity mythology. A sitcom, especially in the era when network runs still meant 22-episode seasons, offered something rare in show business: continuity. Health insurance. A predictable schedule. The ability to stop auditioning like a part-time supplicant.
Then she undercuts it with "which I sort of thrive on". That "sort of" does heavy lifting. It's modesty, yes, but also self-protection: she acknowledges her appetite for variety without romanticizing it. Calling herself a "moving target" isn't just a cute metaphor; it's an actor describing both her craft and her market position. She can do sharp comedy, prestige drama, stage work, film, TV - and that range is simultaneously her edge and her risk, because the industry prefers "types" to shapeshifters.
The subtext is a negotiation with the audience and with herself: let me be successful enough to rest, but not so fixed that I stop being interesting - even to me.
Channing frames success not as prestige but as logistics: one job, one rhythm, one sustained identity. That's the working actor's dream hidden beneath celebrity mythology. A sitcom, especially in the era when network runs still meant 22-episode seasons, offered something rare in show business: continuity. Health insurance. A predictable schedule. The ability to stop auditioning like a part-time supplicant.
Then she undercuts it with "which I sort of thrive on". That "sort of" does heavy lifting. It's modesty, yes, but also self-protection: she acknowledges her appetite for variety without romanticizing it. Calling herself a "moving target" isn't just a cute metaphor; it's an actor describing both her craft and her market position. She can do sharp comedy, prestige drama, stage work, film, TV - and that range is simultaneously her edge and her risk, because the industry prefers "types" to shapeshifters.
The subtext is a negotiation with the audience and with herself: let me be successful enough to rest, but not so fixed that I stop being interesting - even to me.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
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