Daily Inspiration Quote by Alfred Molina

Molina is drawing a hard line against the most common vanity in acting: treating a job as beneath you while still taking the paycheck. He frames "respect for the material" not as fawning reverence but as a professional ethic. You can dislike the script, disagree with the tone, even think the premise is ridiculous - but the moment you perform it with contempt, the audience feels it. Disdain leaks through in tiny choices: a wink to the camera, a lazy line reading, a protective layer of irony. That kind of distance is the real "worst thing" because it sabotages the shared illusion the medium depends on.

The sly pivot is that respect isn't ultimately owed to the project; it's owed to yourself. Molina's subtext is about integrity under compromise, especially for working actors whose careers are a mix of prestige, paycheck roles, and odd detours. "You can have an opinion about it" acknowledges the adult reality: actors are not blank instruments, and not every gig is Hamlet. But he insists on a baseline commitment that keeps craft from curdling into cynicism.

In a culture that rewards snark and meta-commentary, Molina argues for sincerity as a kind of discipline. Respect is the difference between elevating flimsy material through conviction and exposing it by performing your boredom. It's also a quiet rebuke to the idea that seriousness is only for "serious" projects; professionalism, he implies, is how you stay employable and honest at the same time.