Quotes About Actors

So many actors are not open in front of the camera - they have a persona.

In a society like ours, to seek for literary glory seems to me an anachronism. Of what use is it to invoke an ancient sibyl when a muse is on the eve of birth? Pitiable actors in a tragedy nearing its end, that which it behooves us to do is to precipitate the catastrophe. The most deserving among us is he who plays best this part. Well, I no longer aspire to this sad success!

I still should want to watch the movie and enjoy it. Certain actors can play grotesque bad guys, yet they still have a connection to the audience. We still enjoy them as performers. They do cruel deeds, they're monsters, but we enjoy their monsters because when they're on screen we known something exciting will happen.

What happened to all those leading men of the great bacchanalia? They either died of AIDS or accepted roles as supporting actors in the middlebrow drama series of hetero culture-you know, if they're to kiss, we must have sunsets in the background. Once they were proud to explore every crevice of life in the margins, now their ambition is just to get along. Color me unimpressed.

Dating co-stars is natural. When you're working with someone, it's habit.

The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are convinced that the voting public is, too. They count on outrage, thereby spreading numbness. They cherish the prospect of partisan fury, thereby inspiring nonpartisan disgust.

Where I think the American actor is slightly at a disadvantage is in vocal technique. I don't think that words are their friend in the same way that English actors are used to using words: understanding about consonance and how to shade a vowel to show emotional color.

We definitely did not write our own vows. We're actors - people write things for us. We're not good enough for that.

Some of the best actors think they're terrible; that's what keeps you connected to a vulnerability that makes it possible for people to empathize with you.

A lot of directors tend to manipulate actors' vulnerability to get what they want, and that can work.

I think acting helps me as a director no matter what. There is something about being reminded about the vulnerability it takes to be an actor and what I'm really asking of actors every day when I'm on set as a director that I think it's a really good reminder.

It is unfortunate that in every industry, there are people who take advantage of needy people, but I would like to tell all the budding actors not to be vulnerable and always have a backup plan because rejection in auditions and films is not the end of the world.

We have to be vulnerable as actors, but we have to protect ourselves.

If we take as given that critical infrastructures are vulnerable to a cyber terrorist attack, then the question becomes whether there are actors with the capability and motivation to carry out such an operation.

I've always known that I love directing but I was really aware of it while making 'Beginners.' I am my happiest when I'm on set directing. I am also my kindest. When the actors get in front of the camera, it makes them very vulnerable. I am so in love with them for trying so hard.

I just love actors, and I've always loved actors. I empathize with their job. Everyone thinks it's easy, and it ain't. To be that vulnerable and brave on camera is tough. The more they reveal themselves, the more we love them, but there's a lot of truth in what they're showing.

I feel that somewhere actors are vulnerable, that they need to be protected and this is why we find ourselves living life much less than more.

Make-up are the first people the actors go to on set every day - they see you at your most vulnerable. Then they paint the character on you, they're integral to that transformation. It's such an intimate art form that you develop a really close relationship with your make-up artist.

The one thing you can ask, I think, is that actors get paid a living wage. I would like it if all the repertory theatres that currently exist could do that. It would make a huge difference.

Legally, many contractors are required to pay a prevailing wage. However, bad actors often find ways to get around this requirement.

Actors are supposed to be these runaways that get in a covered wagon filled with hats and tambourines and go from town to town making people smile.

I think actors are at the mercy of the opportunities presented to them. So you kind of have to wait for them to choose you. My music is insular - I can choose that.

The biggest surprise about making a movie has got to be the wait in between takes.

I left L.A. and moved to Cleveland for four years in the early 2000s or whatever. I came back and thought that everything had changed. I was like, 'Oh my God, I don't think I ever fit in here. And wait, who are all of these celebrities that are not actors? Where did all of the actors go?'