“You get hired for a film and the roles kept coming for me. I kept telling myself that if I stuck with acting it would be a really good training for what the problems are in directing. Then the family came along and I had to support them. The years flew by and there was a time when I said I would give up acting and really try to get into directing. But it hasn't worked out that way and I have no regrets.”

Tom Skerritt · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Skerritt discussed how his acting career overtook his directing aspirations in a 1992 interview with The Ottawa Citizen.