Quotes About Performance

The life you live in front of an audience is like an altered state - it's not totally real. I'm always, even in the course of one day, trying to find ways to balance both sides.

In real life, I always look at people and how they walk, or how they carry themselves. I think about the body a lot, in performance.

The first time I ever screamed at someone was in a scene, and I'd never screamed at someone in my life.

Don't use barbiturates before going on stage. And be honest.

Acting was always a part and faucet of my life. It just comes very natural. I think it's a good thing.

You move differently than you do when you're filling the stage at Radio City. You have to be bigger than life there.

I've always loved the drama and the creating of a role and performance and all that comes with that, but I then also kind of like to have just the white picket fence life if that makes sense.

The biggest shock of your life is when you first make a record and go to a show and then people start singing the words. Because it occurs to you that they've listened to it!

When you go on tour and see everyone, you're like, "Oh my god. This is actually real life." That inspires me to write more songs.

I think playing music is one of my great joys in life.

All I ever wanted to do was be on stage, if possible acting in Shakespeare. And to be as good as I could be.

My only job as an actor is to try and understand the character and, to the best of my ability, bring this character to life.

You're not a rock 'n' roll person four hours a day or even when you're on stage. It's become the rhythm of your whole life.

I ran into Neal Patrick Harris recently. We were in something called The Purple People Eater. He was maybe 10, but he still remembered it as the worst experience of his life!

I think one's character on the athletic field does not have to have anything to do with the way they are in real life.

From the time that I was in high school, my life really revolved around live theater, so it almost feels genetic.

I believe you can only draw from your own life as an actor. All the characters I've played, I only have my infinite eye and the presence of my life to take from.

Acting can truly take a toll on your nerves. I mean we have to be larger than life. Worse, I've seen actors acting off the sets too.

People ask me about fighting in real life and, honestly, it wouldn't look as graceful as it does in film and TV.

I wanted to act, dance and perform more than anything, and I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.

For me, the music is spiritual and I think comes to life when we perform it in concert.

If I have to hold a note for a long time, I imagine it as moving and spinning, for the note has to have life. In a way, a singer actually refreshes a note with every beat that it's held.

For those of you who don't know who I am, I played Natalie on The Facts of Life.

Just being the first person to bring the character to life is really fun and exciting.