"People would be shocked to know... that despite the nature of my TV character, I am actually a nice guy"
About this Quote
The intent is straightforward PR, but not the stiff, deodorized kind. Lafferty is managing a brand that was partially built by a TV persona, likely one coded as moody, arrogant, or morally messy. By framing the revelation as something people would be “shocked” by, he gently needles the audience’s tendency to conflate performance with personality while still flattering their investment: you cared enough about the character to have an opinion about the person.
The subtext is a quiet complaint about typecasting and the narrow emotional range we allow actors once we’ve decided who they “are.” Nice-guy insistence can sound bland, but here it reads as a corrective to a culture that confuses intensity for cruelty and charisma for character. It also signals professionalism: playing difficult roles requires control, empathy, and often warmth on set - the very traits viewers assume are absent.
Contextually, it lands in the long shadow of teen drama fandoms and early-2000s celebrity coverage, where moral narratives clung to faces. Lafferty’s joke is that the most surprising twist isn’t on-screen at all.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lafferty, James. (2026, January 17). People would be shocked to know... that despite the nature of my TV character, I am actually a nice guy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/people-would-be-shocked-to-know-that-despite-the-56028/
Chicago Style
Lafferty, James. "People would be shocked to know... that despite the nature of my TV character, I am actually a nice guy." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/people-would-be-shocked-to-know-that-despite-the-56028/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"People would be shocked to know... that despite the nature of my TV character, I am actually a nice guy." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/people-would-be-shocked-to-know-that-despite-the-56028/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

