Scott Bakula quotes:

I love 'White Christmas.' That's one of my favorites just because I love the music. I love the story, Bing Crosby. It's just one of my all time favorites. And it's hard to have a Christmas without seeing a little bit of Jimmy Stewart and angels running around town.

You want to try and bring a character to life in an honest a way as you possibly can. It doesn't matter whether he's a doctor, an actor, a car salesman or a captain of a starship. If you can bring truth and honesty to that character, then your audience will believe you.

My oldest son started to like 'South Park' and 'Family Guy,' so we'd watch together so I could spend time with him.

I don't even know how many times I auditioned for Danny Zuko in 'Grease.'

It's a joyful, humbling feeling to be in different places around the planet, and people have seen shows that I'm proud of being a part of, that do have things to say about the human condition, the planet, and who we are and where we've come from, that will sustain.

I grew up in St. Louis, and I don't know if you've ever been to St. Louis in the middle of summer. There are days in the summer sometimes, weeks in the summer, where the temperature can be over 100 degrees and the humidity can be 100 percent.

Sunday night was such a big night for television when I was growing up - you know, 'The Wonderful World of Disney.'

I'm constantly involved in theater, looking at theater, trying to do work in theater, support theater. And that's kind of my creative passion.

I've always been a big fan of time travel, and I'm very into the notion that some day we'll be able to do it. Beam me up!

The biggest challenge for everybody to realize out there is that we're in a very complicated business world and that were all under one umbrella and it's very challenging for everybody to figure out where the priorities lie and where the loyalties lie.

Certainly Men of a Certain Age' was different for me and allowed people to see me in a different light. Maybe that opened up minds a little bit.

New Orleans has a unique history as a great melting pot of all kinds of cultures, and that manifests itself now through the food, the music, and the kinds of people who live there.

I get nervous even guesting on other people's shows.

To be quite honest, I find that it's easier to do parts that are wrapped up in different hair and wardrobe and eras, and different period behavior, than it is to play closer to the present.

The further away you can get away from yourself as an actor, the more fun you have.

I don't think that a company should own a studio and the network, and program for their own network. It hurts the creativity - it is not a level playing field.

I've done a lot of work other than sci-fi, and between half-hour comedy, stage, and various movie roles, I've really tried to avoid being typecast.

I've shot a lot of places, and I've produced. I always thought, 'Gosh, when you shoot in a big city, it's so difficult.' And New York, I always think, 'Where are you going to park the trucks? How are you going to stop the traffic?'

I think the challenge in hour television or half-hour television is that the more it's around, certainly on commercial television, the less time you have to tell stories these days, because the more commercials they're putting in.

I went into show business because I love to work with people, and what I enjoy most about acting is rehearsing and getting to know people and their talents, forming relationships. Working in this business, barriers drop and you get into people real quickly.

If I can avoid looking at myself, I will. I don't care to examine myself or see much of what I do. I never care how I look.

I'm a runner from sports. I've been a runner, but I wasn't a cross-country runner or anything like that. I played a lot of soccer growing up.

I've done great theatre, great films and had a lot of opportunities in television. I also love to sing, and I've been able to do that once or twice in the television shows.

I've composed a fair amount in my life, and some of them have made it on to the screen, some compositions that I've done, a few. And I like doing that. I had never really considered doing a full-length thing. I've worked with other people creating full-length pieces.

The longest show I've ever done was four and a half years, so I can only imagine what ending an eight year show is like.

The movies are about big tent pole movies and big action and effects.

With any kind of sci-fi, the imagination continues, and the world exists, and you create that in your own mind, and it lives in you.

I try to get on stage whenever I can. I'm always trying to be involved in the theater, doing something on stage, whenever I have downtime. I'm always looking for it.

I am very much against weapons in space. And I wish we could be spearheading that program to come to some kind of international agreement so that doesn't happen. That is my only - fear - in further space exploration like always, we hope it doesn't get abused

In many respects, I think a lot of businessmen have become highly insensitive to the world, the environment, to everything around them. What are they doing with the millions and millions of dollars they're making? Why don't they give anything back? That, to me, is the height of insensitivity.

I don't think that a company should own a studio and the network, and program for their own network. It hurts the creativity - it is not a level playing field

I wanted to be an actor because it gave me the opportunity to express myself in ways I wasn't comfortable expressing myself, as a kid growing up in St. Louis.

The reality of our business is that for every actor who's rolled up his tent and given up and gone home, the next day you hear about some shoe salesman at Macy's who had this audition and now he's Harrison Ford. There's always that carrot out there in our business.

Ideally, people find mates with whom they can express both their masculine and feminine sides.

Being an actor opened doors for me to explore my emotions as different people and characters, and expand my own inner soul.

I was a huge fan of the original 'Star Trek,' and I'd never even dreamed that I would someday be captain of a starship.

If you're a fan of Shirley MacLaine just like I am, I'd kinda go anywhere to work with her.

I haven't really thought about where to scatter my ashes when the time comes, but I doubt that it would be in space.

I was actually cut out of 'L.A. Story'... and rightfully so.

The great thing about show business is that there's no mandatory retirement age.

Running for me has always been a great place to get away. It's a great stress reliever for me. It's great if I need to be working on something in my mind, whether it's things I need to be memorizing or thinking about, or I have some presentation coming up.

Sunday night was such a big night for television when I was growing up - you know, The Wonderful World of Disney.

After 'Quantum Leap,' a lot of sci-fi things came my way, and I had to say, 'I can't do that right now.'

And I've always felt comfortable certainly in a courtroom because you're just performing. And there was a time in my life when I thought when I grew up I'd be a trial lawyer myself.

Liberace was a miracle. You talk about who he was and what he did, and then you look at who he inspired, from Elton John to Cher to Michael Jackson to Bette Midler. There are so many people that came to see him. Elvis was there, watching his shows.

I like pop, rock n' roll, big band, Broadway - I like all those elements.

Behind The Candelabra' is an HBO movie. It's the Liberace story. Michael Douglass and Matt Damon. I play a small part in it. I play a choreographer who introduces, brings Matt Damon to Las Vegas for the first time.

For a long-running TV show, you're looking for a character who is interesting and vibrant and you can imagine going into all kinds of different areas.

Quantum Leap' gave me a huge opportunity as an actor. The nature of the role and it's demands allowed people to perceive me as a versatile actor, and the wide success of the show around the planet gave me a certain notoriety that helped me get other work.

In the fantasy, sci-fi world, the fans are so discerning and they're so tough and they're so intelligent, and they're so critical.

Years ago, I did a CBS audition. I was nervous. They introduced me as 'Scott Bakoola.' Not a good sign. I also didn't get the show.

My daughter, when she was younger, was crazy about 'The X-Files,' so I'd watch that with her.

A lot of people don't know that I'm a singer - that's my thing, really.

I am very much against weapons in space.

I find that it's easier to do parts that are wrapped up in different hair and wardrobe and eras, and different period behavior, than it is to play closer to the present.

I havent really thought about where to scatter my ashes when the time comes, but I doubt that it would be in space.

I like fantasy. I've always been the kind of kid who likes to dream about other things I could be and exotic situations I could be in.

I never intended to be on television or in a movie. The theater was all I ever dreamed about, once I decided to try to make it as a business profession. All this other stuff has just been icing.

I went into show business because I love to work with people, and what I enjoy most about acting is rehearsing and getting to know people and their talents, forming relationships. Working in this business, barriers drop and you get into people real quickly

It's a joyful, humbling feeling to be in different places around the planet and people have seen shows that I'm proud of being a part of, that do have things to say about the human condition, the planet, and who we are and where we've come from, that will sustain. Those ideas are universal and they work in any language.

It's always great to be involved in something that's not in an in-your-face fashion, but has a message that goes out guised as entertainment.

Ive always had an affinity for lawyers. My dad is a lawyer. Hes retired now. My brother is a lawyer.

Lots of people still live with fears about anything. It can be lots of different things. One of the hardest things to do is to be present and open and clear about who you are and what you stand for. We all have issues with that.

On the whole, show business is a hard business in which to be married

The biggest challenge for everybody to realize out there is that we're in a very complicated business world and that were all under one umbrella and it's very challenging for everybody to figure out where the priorities lie and where the loyalties lie

The great thing about show business is that there's no mandatory retirement age

The guy that picked me up at the airport in 1985 when I was out in L.A. for my first audition was selling a script. I was a nobody coming off a plane to read for a new show.

The longer you are in acting business, the more you cherish the times when you're working with people that do great work, and can figure out how to enjoy themselves while they're doing the great work.

The reason why most of actors got into acting was so that we could become other people and have fun with being somebody else.

Well, I'm... first and foremost I'm a theater guy and everything that I know comes from the theater.

When I used to do tours, I`d be anxious and nervous on the plane returning to New York. I now realize the reaction was because I was coming back unemployed. Actors are constantly being put to the test.