Daily Inspiration Quote by John Glover

Glover isn’t just praising a role; he’s quietly rebuking the kind of TV character that exists to be a plot device. When he says “more depth,” he’s pointing to a craft problem actors wrestle with constantly: some parts arrive already flattened by the writing, built to signal “villain,” “mentor,” “comic relief” in broad strokes. “Lionel” (Glover’s famously slippery Lionel Luthor) resists that reduction, and that resistance is where the performance lives.

The key phrase is “all these different layers.” That’s actor-speak, but it’s also a moral argument. Layers imply contradiction: charm that can curdle into menace, affection tangled with ambition, cruelty delivered with impeccable manners. Glover is signaling that the character isn’t interesting because he’s big or evil; he’s interesting because he’s coherent in a human way, full of justifications and impulses that don’t line up neatly. That’s why “I prefer playing Lionel” lands as a statement of agency. He’s choosing complexity over caricature.

“I prefer playing Lionel because he’s a human being” sounds obvious until you hear the subtext: many roles treat humans as functions. In a genre space crowded with archetypes and mythic binaries, Glover’s intent is to pull the character back toward psychology. It’s an appeal for specificity - the kind that makes an audience lean in, not because they approve of Lionel, but because they recognize the familiar mess of motive underneath the power suit.