Quotes About Acting

I reckon I probably worked for Euripides a long time ago. I do think we have many Earth walks and it's possible that he's an old friend. Does that sound too stupid for words? Quite frankly I think I've been an actor in so many lifetimes.

You spend so much time developing a character when you do a film; so much of your work is done before you get set to shoot because you've been working on the character: the way he walks, the way he talks, what might upset him, what might make him happy.

I did 'Nobody Walks' right after 'Dredd.' Well, actually, I got off the plane from Capetown where we shot 'Dredd' and tested for 'Being Flynn' that same day. Then I came out to L.A. to make this film right after that so it was all very back to back.

There's a certain relief to just being the guy who puts on the costume and walks onset and gets to prance or stomp around in a Ridley Scott or Baz Luhrmann movie.

One of the great, truly extraordinary privileges of being an actor is to interact with individuals from all walks of life, you know, from avocations that you wouldn't ordinarily interact with or people you wouldn't ordinarily interact with.

I have to say, working with Dan Stevens in 'The Guest' and seeing his transformation was incredible. Also Kate Winslet. Off set, she's loud and sweary, but when she walks on set, she has this calmness and is so centred.

To me, acting used to be just, 'Get my face out there, get girls, make a little bit of money, make my mom proud.' It was just like sports. But there were moments in 'Moonlight' that I really felt like I had to know why he is the way he is. Or just people in general - why this person walks around with a frown on their face instead of a smile.

Acting can be a very cruel mistress. It's not a meritocracy. In other walks of life, by being good at what you do, you can achieve success. That isn't always the case in this business. Every actor knows that.

I know it looks like Burt walks through his movies, but he doesn't; he works hard to make it look that way, and the work is tough.

Adopting mannerisms is called mimicry. That is not a good way to do things. You don't start to imitate somebody, the way he walks and talks, that is a very irrelevant element of acting.

Prepping for any character is the most important thing because if you don't know how she walks, talks or thinks, you can't do justice to it.

Sometimes if I'm in my head before a take, I'll just like to reach out to the closest thing to me - the wall or a sharp edge - and just push into it. That way, my physical experience is totally contemporaneous and not in the clouds.

Acting is ephemeral. You can't hang it on a wall. You can't throw it off. And you can't bring it out of a closet. It's there one night and it's gone the next, at least with stage acting anyhow.

I'm not auditioning to play convenience-store clerks. I don't see any benefit in that.

When I have time, I would like to do films in my language but I would also like to star in Bengali and Marathi films too.

I would even love to do a Bengali film if a good offer is made to me.

My dream is to act in a Bengali film.

So my first role was when I was five years old. I had one scene with my mom in a Bengali film called 'Gajamukta.' After that, I thought I'd become Madhuri Dixit.

Now that I have started acting in Bengali films, I will look forward to working with various directors.

I was never hell bent on being an actress forever, but I will not say that I won't work again.

You don't go to Berkeley to become an actor. In fact, I don't think you go to any school to become an actor. You've just sort of got to go out there and act.

And I've been lucky in that I haven't had another job besides acting in the last five years.

Sometimes I think it's easier to play someone who's very, very different from yourself. Besides, I wouldn't want to play people who are just like me; that would get awfully boring very fast!

I couldn't imagine trying anything else besides acting. But I didn't know that to make it meant I'd be on a movie screen.