These SAG Awards “I Am an Actor” Speeches Will Bring a Tear to Your Eye

What does it take to be an actor? Apparently, this.

Every year, the SAG Awards kicks off with a handful of celebrities sharing their own history as a performer. What once was Angela Lansbury‘s opening monologue at the 1995 ceremony has since evolved into a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of acting—with each speech ending with the iconic sign-off “I am an actor.”

Take Kaley Cuoco, who said at the 2014 show that “my first acting coach told me I would never make it in this business due to my ‘pots and pans acting,’ which meant loud, annoying, obnoxious and all over the place.”

“I am proud to say, due to my pots and pans acting,” the Big Bang Theory star brazenly continued, “I am an actor.”

One year later, Jennifer Aniston shared how childhood aspirations led her to the TV screen. 

“When I was a little girl growing up in New York City, all I ever wanted to be was Scarlett O’Hara,” the Friends alum said of Vivien Leigh’s iconic Gone With the Wind character at the 2015 ceremony. “Oh well. I’m Jennifer Aniston and I am an actor.”