Janel Moloney Quotes

United States, Actress
October 3, 1969

Janel Wallace Moloney (born October 3, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Moss on the television series The West Wing, a role for which she received nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2002 and 2004. From 2014 to 2017, she starred on the acclaimed HBO drama, The Leftovers.

I think the best way for me to go into auditions psychologically was to say, 'You're not going to get it. This is the only acting experience you're going to have with this material.'

Janel Moloney
- Experience
At one point in my 20s, I was about to quit acting. I'd had a crappy couple of years and I was depressed. My mom said, 'Don't give up! You'll be so mad at yourself.'

Janel Moloney
- Up
- Mom
- Couple

I think being a guest star on an ongoing TV show can be a nightmare, and I've done it a lot. You're walking into this family who's very comfortable where they are, and you have to jump on the train and be artificially comfortable. That's a very hard thing to do.

Janel Moloney
- Family
- Done
- Star
You have to know that 99% of auditions you're not going to get.

Janel Moloney
The hardest thing about being an actor, for me, is that if you are the 0.00001% of individuals who wants to do it, you're a freak. And you're an assertive freak. Though actors are often shy, there's this tremendous assertive extroversion in you somewhere.

Janel Moloney