Quotes About Actors

In my horror movies, I was always trying to deal with real characters and real character drama played by good actors... Laura Linney, Ethan Hawke, Eric Bana, and Tom Wilkinson, people who don't do horror normally.

To be on set with Tom Hiddlestone and Hugh Laurie is just fantastic. But during 'Homeland,' I was on set with Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, so I'm used to working with big hitters.

Today, actors aren't forced to ditch their regional accents like they used to. The best example's Tom Baker, a Scouser who went to great lengths to change his accent and ended up with something alien - and fantastic. It's sad that when the likes of him go, there won't be those sorts of accents any more.

Nowadays, all actors talk about is what they don't eat and what kind of juicers they've got. That wouldn't have been a conversation John Hurt would have had with Tom Baker.

Tom Brokaw has friends who are actors, and yet he feels that, as bright as they are, they are not articulate. So he said how astonished he was that Sidney Poitier, with whom he'd just taped an interview, had been so articulate.

I've always been a massive fan of Killian Scott and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor anyways, so to get to work with them was absolutely a bonus.

I'm one of those actors who's going to have to create a space for themselves. It's very easy to be the young Tom Cruise, because Hollywood knows what to do with you. But if you're someone who's bringing someone slightly left of center to the table, you're not a sure thing.

I have seen Hollywood artistes like Al Pacino, Tom Cruise and Tim Burton doing theatre and Broadway shows. Cinema actors tend to go back to theatre because it gives them an opportunity to reinvent themselves.

I saw Tom Cruise at every audition I went up for, and he was a friendly go-getter back then. You gotta remember, in New York I would go up for something, I would sit, and in the room would be Matthew Modine, Matthew Broderick, Andrew McCarthy, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Bacon.

I'm not an Adonis, that's for damn sure. I've never really thought of myself that way, and it doesn't matter to me. My favorite actors aren't Adonises. Dustin Hoffman is a flawed-looking man; he's amazing to me. Tom Hanks is flawed-looking; people love him. Same with Gene Hackman.

My heroes are guys like Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon. These are amazing actors with amazing careers that every actor should aspire to. I'm not saying I'm going to get anywhere close. It's not going to be an easy feat. I'm just in awe of their careers.

There are a lot of actors that I really love to watch, actors who I have fun watching - I think Johnny Depp is phenomenal. But I wouldn't want that career as much as I'd like a career like Tom Hanks - he kind of represents the everyman.

I really love young Tom Hanks. He's just one of my favorites. He's a great, quirky every-man. I also love Zach Braff. I really love actors that are quirky and interesting, that sort of try to portray 'normal' people.

In this business, you have a hierarchy of stars. Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks - you name 'em, they can play any part they want. Guys like me who are somewhere down in the middle of the pack, that's a different story. I can do things in the theater that I can't do anyplace else.

Tom Hanks has built his career playing ordinary men.

When looking for an Oscar-winning performance Americans demand not mental instability but mental disability, ie Tom Hanks playing a simpleton or Dustin Hoffman as an autistic man. The Yanks are suckers for such patronising tosh.

My heroes are Robert Duvall, Forest Whitaker, Ed Harris, Tommy Lee Jones, Anthony Hopkins and Sean Penn.

The big stars I felt a kinship with were never the romantic leads. It wasn't Steve McQueen or Robert Redford - it was people like Walter Matthau and Anthony Quinn. My big hero was Tommy Cooper.

I always look up to people like Michael Gambon and Tommy Lee Jones, and I hope that as I mature I will become as craggy as them.

I lack confidence, but I've been so lucky the way jobs have come to me, and I'm so grateful for them. I know how many brilliant actors there are out there who aren't getting the chances. While the work is there, I will grab it with both hands. It could all end tomorrow. You never know what's around the corner.

I knew a ton of actors and was friends with them, but I never dated actresses. I tried to date 'normal' people because the Hollywood dating rule is 'one star per couple' because it's quite a challenge to match the egos of two actors.

I don't like when actors go around and talk a ton about how they approach their roles, because it's a little like pulling the curtain back on Oz, for me.

I see a ton of theatre whenever I'm not working to stay inspired. I love feeling like I'm a part of the theatre community and following the work of actors and writers I admire. I'm a big reader, too.

The actors are the greatest executors of tone in a film. They're the most important cinematic component.