Quotes About Actors

There's a method to the madness in filmmaking, where everything's very specifically laid out, the shots and what they need - but there also can be a freedom to allowing the actors to find genuine moments.

My secret to all casting, and specifically kids, is cast good human beings.

I am very aware that playwrights, particularly good ones, have a intention for everything they write. Language and punctuation is used specifically, and most of the time actors can find wonderful clues about character in the rhythm and cadence of the language used.

A lot of screenwriters write certain characters, certain parts, with actors in mind. I don't really tend to do that. I describe them as specifically as I can, but I don't really picture anyone in particular.

I want authenticity. And rarely do actors - more specifically, black actors - get a chance to be authentic on film and television.

I think at some point every actor has practiced their acceptance speech while they're having a shower. It's fun.

I'm sure that everything you do contributes to the sort of novel that you write. A lot of actors have an understanding of drama and a good ear for dialogue and also the rhythm of speech. Similarly, my 16 years in radio drama has influenced me. You only have 45 minutes, or 7,000 words, to tell a story, so every scene has to have a point.

Actors love the big speeches and love to be the center of attention. I mean, that's why we do it.

As the insurgency in Iraq started to grow, we realized this is a connected network of individual actors that can move at light speed.

I've spent my entire career on horseback or on a motorcycle. It boxes you in, the way people perceive you. I read a lot of scripts. Most of 'em go to other actors.

Spielberg gave us three takes before saying anything to us. Since then, I do that, three takes, to let the actors find their rhythm.

Werner Herzog, I knew him for so many years, when Fassbinder was at his highest moment. But we had a rule: An actor from Fassbinder could never work with an actor of Werner Herzog or Wim Wenders. Because if we would have done that, we would have been spies. 'Ah, you worked with Werner - how was it? How did he direct you?' I was Fassbinder's actor.

Actors have an innate sense of self and humanity, the good ones do, and of being generous of heart and generous of spirit.

I've been really lucky in the work that I have done so far, to work with good female actors in lead roles. Lisa McCune in 'Blood Brothers' and Claudia Karvan in 'Spirited' and then Susie Porter in 'Sisters of War.' They've been working, and they've got good lives around them as well.

We're really spoiled on 'Mad Men.' Lots of television actors use the down season to go out and get creatively fulfilled, but I feel the opposite. Anything else I get to do is just icing.

It's difficult working with very rich actors, because inevitably they become a little spoilt, and the managers and agents tend to control things more than is healthy.

Acting Smart is a handbook to help one navigate through the industry. Ive spoken to filmmakers such as Imtiaz Ali and Raju Hirani, Boman Irani and other actors, as well as designers such as Manish Malhotra and Wendell Rodricks.

It's kind of like an out of body experience, watching my words being spoken by the actors, watching the portrayal of me by John David Washington.

There are far more good actors than there are jobs for them, so it's a big question of luck.

These men both publicly and privately have done so much for me. Without Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick I would be living in a little motel just around the corner here, trying to make ends meet.

I look at leading men because that's ultimately what I'm aspiring to do. But I also look at character actors and people that I'm just in awe by, just because I can relate to it.

First, I must be getting the money on my side, because after magic wanes money is the most powerful thing on earth (followed by weapons that destroy whole cities in a go, and religion—that never goes away, damn it!—and lastly, female actors who do not wear much clothing).

But you'll see producers and theatre owners with a billion dollars worth of theaters come in here for lunch and you know why? Because it's cheap. You see those pictures on the wall? All young actors and actresses who you will never hear about in your life... And when 'dis place is gone, the entire Broadway will slide into the East River.

Actors are magical people. They can take words you wrote and say them in a way that, although you thought the line was good when you wrote it, it's fantastic when it comes out of their mouth.