Quotes About Performance

Acting's not about nose jobs and liposuction. It's about being truthful to what you're doing.

Nobody is more truthful when he's acting than De Niro.

It's not the actor's job to be interesting; that's the script's job. It's our job to be truthful and brave.

A good actor is somebody who can be truthful and fascinating and interesting and enlightening.

Singing and being truthful to a song... I've developed that skill, and I know how to do that real instinctively, that's all I've been doing for the last 25 years.

There's only one drummer. We all travel to his beat. Well, I couldn't sing his song. Because for me, it wasn't a truthful statement. Well, Linda sang it, and it was a monster for her.

I'm a huge fan of Jack Lemmon, he was someone who managed to tread that line between comedy and tragedy and sometimes give very big performances, but they were never over-demonstrative and they were never not based on a kind of real truthful human being.

I think any actor should be aware of where they're starting to stretch into what's not truthful.

Theatre is liberating because it only works if it's truthful - that's what it requires. That's not true of film: the camera does lie.

When I sing, I close my eyes. If I see a feather, everything is fine. Without this image in my mind, the sound is not 'truthful' enough, and I must begin again. I have to.

Listening and hearing are two different things, and acting is comprehending what the person is saying, thinking how it makes you feel and responding. That's the key to really honest, truthful, compelling performance.

I had the question asked of me before, 'What do you like better: singing or playing guitar?' If I'm gonna be totally truthful, if that microphone's in my hand, I'm loving it. When the guitar's in my hand, I'm a little nervous, but I'm still loving it.

It's important for an actor to feel like they're really being watched and to receive feedback and encouragement about the aspects of what they're doing that feels truthful - and also to raise awareness when they might be resorting to habits and tricks, which every actor has.

If I were to do some outlandish role, I always made sure I'd be on Johnny Carson to show that I wasn't that person that I played. I'd be myself. And so people got to know me, I think, and I think they know that I'm honest and truthful and real.

A good content always allows me to reach the depth of the characters, and thus, the performance looks more relatable and truthful.

When I'm doing a role the one thing I ask is 'Is this believable? am I being truthful?'

The truth of it is that people are not going to want to go to improvisational theater if it's not funny. You can succeed in doing all the things you're supposed to do - be truthful to scene - and if it's not funny, I'm telling you that no one's gonna care.

As an actor, I think most people have a tendency to want to demonstrate that they can act, they can emote.

Peak performers develop powerful mental images of the behavior that will lead to the desired results. They see in their mind's eye the result they want, and the actions leading to it.

Performance is something we all strive to be better at. I'm no different than that. Who wants to look bad?

I love comedy. Playing the underdog, and getting the laughs is my form of entertainment. I could think of nothing different that I would want to be doing at this time in my life.

People want to see something that shows them you can do what you say. That's the trick.

When it's all said & done only God can judge me. I'm going to go out there on 5/5 to give my fans what they want to see.

Singers, musicians, and songwriters don't want to use the word "acting" because we want it to be more real than that - we want it to come from us: naturally, truly, really.