Quotes About Acting

The show is like an Edwardian play - emotional life gets stepped on for the sake of accepted manners, and that's terrific for actors to play in.

I've been very lucky. I wanted to be an actress, but I didn't really have the drive to sell myself. Fortunately I had a terrific agent in New York who kept me going from job to job.

A few nights ago I went to a Hollywood screening of a small independent film made by Sally Kirkland, an old friend of mine who also did terrific job acting in it. There were other actors in it and they were all terrific.

To get asked to do stuff like 'United States Of Tara' and 'Caprica' is terrific. I can't complain.

I was a terrific liar as a child, and I believe my lies. So it's a natural step into acting.

I've never seen anyone - and I've had the opportunity to work with some really terrific actors in my time - but Philip Seymour Hoffman is definitely the best I ever had the opportunity to work with.

I've really loved being pregnant on set - it's been terrific.

I've been terrified of the water, and yet it seems I'm forced to go into in on every movie that I make.

The only thing is, I'm terrified of horror movies. I'm scared - I'm admitting it! I mean, I would still do a horror movie; I just probably wouldn't be able to watch it.

I still get terrified if I have to talk in front of a group of people. By having a character to play, it makes it safer.

There were times at the start of it all when I would be standing, terrified, in front of the cameras and people I considered 'real' actors. I had no idea what was happening, what the guy with the clipboard did, or if people in the studio were looking at me because it was their job to look at me or because they thought I was making a mess of things.

I'm not scared of many things in front of the camera. Everywhere else, yes, I'm terrified. But acting is just pretending, and you are exploring feelings in a safe environment.

When I got my headshots done, there was this woman screaming at me to blow my lips out. She kept saying, 'You want to be like Scarlett Johansson, don't you?' In the shot, my eyes are popping out; I look terrified. I realised I'd rather not get a job than go through pain to be something I'm not.

I was once so terrified of acting that I used to pretend I was ill to get out of drama.

I don't want to brag, but I can make people laugh and then be terrified.

After 'Waqt,' I was terrified I'd be offered all the mummy roles.

I remember hearing someone say that good acting is more about taking off a mask than putting one on, and in movie acting, certainly that's true. With the camera so close, you can see right down into your soul, hopefully. So being able to do that in a way is terrifying, and in another way, truly liberating. And I like that about it.

Theater has always been terrifying to me.

I've always wanted to give 'Hamlet' a shot. It's the big one, you know. I haven't done Shakespeare professionally, so I think it would be terrifying.

I remember thinking, 'I can't act.' Pretending to be someone else is a terrifying thought. The thing was that, along with other people, I could create a whole world. I felt absolutely right directing.

When someone asks if you want to play Brittany Murphy, who you idolized as a child and grew up loving and who you wanted to be, you can't say no. Even if it's the most terrifying thing someone asks you to do.

Auditioning for something you already know and love is terrifying.

'Dogfight' was everything wonderful and terrifying about a show, and I feel it 1,000% gave me the knowledge and the confidence that I could do this. I can step up and be present enough to command scenes with amazing actors.

'Baywatch' was terrifying. I could feel the financial stakes, you know?