Quotes About Acting

I have to tell you this - as a teenager, I never used to see any horror films till I started acting in films.

I remember one day, Ekta Kapoor came to the set and scolded me that you don't know how to act, why did we cast you'? She asked me to stay on the set till I learnt the technique of correct dialogue delivery. At that time I felt very humiliated.

I never wanted to be an actor. Till my third film, I didn't imagine that I would continue acting. I didn't like it at all. It was only after three films that I became comfortable with acting.

Krishna Chaitayna came with a script titled 'Powerpeta,' and in this film I am playing the most challenging role of my career till date.

I'd really like to do a movie again with Tim Robbins and Clint Eastwood. They were really good guys.

Michelle Pfeiffer in Tim Burton's 'Batman' was one of the most inspiring - I saw that and I was like, 'I want to be her, I want to do that.'

It would have been fun to have played Tim Robbins' role in Bull Durham.

I never wanted to do Shakespeare; I never liked watching it, it's always frightened me, and I've never been any good at it. But I really wanted to work with the director Tim Carroll and Mark Rylance.

When Tim and I first discussed the part in 2003, he told me, 'I'd love for you to play five Oompas.' But five Oompas quickly turned into 165 - and they're not computerized; I did each one individually myself.

My worst audition was for Tim Burton for 'Batman.'

I was very lucky because Tim Burton really gave me a career. I don't think Hollywood would've known what to do with me. If I hadn't done 'Beetlejuice,' I think I would've just gone back to my school.

When you're on film or TV, essentially you're in front of the camera. Unless it's a Tim Burton thing, the desire is to be real and grounded.

I can understand everybody associates me with Karen, but beyond that, I think after time passes and a few years go by, that sort of becomes a non-issue. That character is far - I mean really, all the characters I've played are pretty far away from what I'm really like.

I love the sense of how time passes when I'm acting. When you're not aware of the clock ticking, that is always a good sign you're enjoying something.

Acting in film, you know, I hear all the time, people say 'You did so much better than I thought you would.' So there's an added element of surprise in film, different than in music.

I don't really pursue acting. I jokingly say that I retired right at the same time people stopped hiring me, but I really don't think I'm very good at it, and I'm not really interested in it anymore as an adult.

The roles that have come into my life have taught me - and in that time period maybe I didn't even know it, but whatever came up or whatever it is that you have to express at that time, has benefitted me in a particular way.

I remember watching Cate Blanchett in 'Elizabeth' and feeling like for the first time - even though that time period wasn't happening now - that I believed that role.

Actors should be timeless and impersonal.

I think that even though the characters were heightened, the 'SCTV' cast were all such strong actors they found a certain truth in playing them. I think that's why the show stays fresh and timeless.

I certainly direct with confidence even if I'm not confident. I learned early on as an actor that confidence can be faked, and it's not always a terrible thing to do. A lot of times if people feel you're confident, then they're confident.

I think that, in the beginning, you think, 'I want to be the biggest movie star in the world.' And then, with the more movies you make, you are like, 'I don't know if I want to be that anymore. I think what I am looking for is something different.' I like acting, but a lot of times, stardom comes with a lot of strings attached.

Psychoanalysis. Almost went three times - almost. Then I decided what was peculiar about me was probably what made me successful. I've seen some very talented actors go into analysis and really lose it.

In 'Pacific Rim' I had to have a haircut I wouldn't usually rock. However, the moustache I had in the film - that might have to come out again. It was a good moustache. Good times.