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Daily Inspiration Quote by Elizabeth Perkins

"My oldest step-son wants to direct or produce. As far as being an actor, I've already told them they have to wait until they're 18; I won't take them to auditions"

About this Quote

Perkins draws a bright line that feels almost radical in an industry built on blurry boundaries. She isn’t condemning acting; she’s rejecting the machinery around it: the auditions, the constant appraisal, the adult gaze that turns childhood into a product. That small logistical detail - “I won’t take them” - is the real flex. In Hollywood, access is everything, and she’s choosing to withhold it, even though she could open doors effortlessly.

The quote also slips in a quieter family politics. She names the “oldest step-son,” not “my son,” and that specificity matters: she’s describing a blended household where roles and permissions are negotiated, not assumed. The older kid’s interest in directing or producing reads like a safer ambition in her eyes - creative authority without the early-body commodification that child acting can invite. It’s not that behind-the-camera work is less cutthroat; it’s that it’s less intimate in the ways that worry a parent.

There’s an implicit critique of the “stage parent” archetype. Perkins frames restraint as care, not neglect: if the kids want it, they can choose it later, with legal adulthood as a proxy for real consent. The subtext is blunt: childhood shouldn’t be a résumé-building exercise, and fame isn’t a family business unless the child can meaningfully opt in.

Quote Details

TopicSon
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Perkins, Elizabeth. (2026, January 16). My oldest step-son wants to direct or produce. As far as being an actor, I've already told them they have to wait until they're 18; I won't take them to auditions. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-oldest-step-son-wants-to-direct-or-produce-as-132046/

Chicago Style
Perkins, Elizabeth. "My oldest step-son wants to direct or produce. As far as being an actor, I've already told them they have to wait until they're 18; I won't take them to auditions." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-oldest-step-son-wants-to-direct-or-produce-as-132046/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My oldest step-son wants to direct or produce. As far as being an actor, I've already told them they have to wait until they're 18; I won't take them to auditions." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-oldest-step-son-wants-to-direct-or-produce-as-132046/. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Elizabeth Perkins (born November 18, 1960) is a Actress from USA.

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