Quotes About Acting

I get very competitive, mostly in acting though. When I'm going out for a role or something, that's when I really get very territorial about things.

It's funny - when I started acting, I didn't know I was going to be talking about Asian-American issues so much. You know what, though? It just comes with the territory, being ethnic.

Over a spell of about three years, I played a series of roles that were, for me, all very different, but most of them came out within a six-month period. They all dealt with a kind of dark territory that in some cases had been mined before in movies.

I am very proud of my role in 'Singularity.' It pushed me into the territory of period romance. It was a very emotional and challenging role.

Nowadays heroines are doing everything from acting to item songs. They are jumping into the territory of item girls.

I think, as a younger actor, you are more open to the experience. And to an extent, you want to go into things blind and energised as if you were 15. Keep that terror.

It's so much fun playing Ling, but I have this fear that people are going to run away from me in terror on the streets. They think I'm going to bite their heads off or something.

I feel no terror when I'm acting. There's no tension. It's just a part.

All I had growing up was like 'Aladdin,' maybe I could be animated - or terrorist roles.

I didn't do a lot of drama and decided to do comedy, so I never used to get those terrorist audition and stuff. But I do know a lot of people who in the beginning got that kind of stuff.

There are certain things that I know I don't want to do anymore. Playing out-and-out terrorists who terrorise people and don't actually move the conversation on are not worth doing. So that's probably another reason I don't go back to America, because a lot of it is like that. It's boring, dull, very lazy writing.

I've always refused to play terrorists.

I know a lot of brown actors who play terrorists because they're physically intimidating. For me, it was like, 'O.K., you'll be the nerd.' So I've played the nerd. I've played food-delivery guys. But I always tried to find something in the characters so that they weren't just defined by what they looked like.

I love Terry O'Quinn. He's a wonderful guy, wonderful actor.

What's real? What's not? That's what I do in my act, test how other people deal with reality.

You can over-think things. If the script's good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it and do it honestly. I also don't learn things for auditions, because I feel like it's just a test of memorising rather than being real.

To be an actress and act crazy is really fun for me, to be able to be acting like you'd never be able to act in your real life and scream and freak out. It's an interesting test for an actor.

I love playing 'Madame Vastra.' Although I do suffer, spending three-and-a-half hours in make-up every morning to have her lizard skin put on. I was so excited the first day when we did the make-up test, but after six hours, I was like, 'Can we finish now?'

I have always been down to test what I can do and push the limits of my acting. I have always wanted to try new genres and stuff - but I love comedy. I grew up on comedy, and I love having a good time and making people laugh. But it is also really nice to switch it around and make people think and feel some darker emotions.

I am a coward, basically, but one of the things about acting is that you are always putting yourself through yet another test.

The litmus test for whether I want to take on a role or not is usually fear. If I'm afraid of it, then I want to do it.

I didn't sound anything like Capote at the screen test. It was more like Bob Dylan. In his early years. With the flu.

Acting is a general thing; it's not like being a primary artist like a painter or writer which stands the test of time. I don't think acting stands the test of time, but it can capture the mood of the moment, which is in itself very exciting, but it rarely lasts.

If the script's good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it, and do it honestly. I also don't learn things for auditions, because I feel like it's just a test of memorizing rather than being real. Maybe every other actor would think that was terrible, I don't know. But it seems to have worked for me, so far.