Ann Dowd: Will never accept label of a character actor

Ann Dowd said she does not believe in being categorised as a certain kind of actor and will never accept being called a character artiste. The 61-year-old actor said she was referred to as 'character actor' by an agent in the beginning her acting career that made her introspect her decision to work in the film industry.
"I remember thinking to myself in addition to the fact that I wouldn't ever work with her (agent) again that I will never accept a label that I have not placed on myself.Labels are limitations. Labels confine the image, they cut short, they dismiss the greater dream whatever that may be."
"I once thought I was being placed in a lesser-than category by being called a character actor, which of course is absurd. People who need to categorise me or others as this or that, knock yourself out. That's just not my thing," Dowd said. The actor currently features as Aunt Lydia on acclaimed dystopian drama, 'The Handmaid's Tale.'