Quotes About Acting

A lot of the stuff you do as an actor - or I do, because I can't speak for everyone - is not always consciously thought out. A lot of the time, for me, it's actually just feeling stuff, and it happens all in the moment and your body reacts.

Body language is essential for an actress, even if you don't use your body in an athletic way. Just to be free, to use it like your voice. A body can be small and have incredible violence. A body talks.

You have an awareness of your body and how to use it and I think that if you can embody a character physically it's another really useful tool.

The acting part is easy; it's the preparing - lifting weights and getting your body in tip-top shape - that's the hard part.

My No. 1 piece of advice, especially for someone who's an actor-singer-dancer - a triple threat, they're called! - people say, 'What's the most important?' I always say acting. Without knowing why you're singing or what you're singing about, it's just noise. And without knowing why you're moving your body, it's just flailing of arms.

To be a good actor, you need to be able to emote with your body.

You're being cast for your acting ability. It's not based on the way your body functions. If you're playing a lead in a movie, it's for that character and they'll tailor it to you. In a dance company, you have to fit in a definite mold.

Sometimes when you play a character, you can feel it in your body. And I felt like I had characteristics of my dog: the way Webster moves, the way he holds his head. I kind of adapted it into this part unconsciously.

You have to contort your body in a certain way to hit a low note. When you're on film, you can't. So you do, in a sense, get to hide behind your voice, which is nice.

To be a great actor, you really don't need to go to acting school or learn dance classes or work on your body. You have to be intelligent. You have to draw on a lot of emotions that you go through in life that you can tap into once you work on a set.

Although we're acting, and our minds know that we're acting, our bodies don't quite know that we're acting. So even when you're watching someone acting like they're dying, your body has like a true real response to it.

I was lucky enough to be able to do comedies, dramas, completely different parts. At the beginning, when you start you have a fantasy that you could be somebody else. Which is absurd. That's part of being an actor. It's your voice, it's the way you move, it's your body, even if you transform it, you play with it.

Sometimes your body language is enough for an actor to know that you're not happy. And you don't really need to say it out loud if you deal with actors you know very well. And I don't think you really need to be explicit.

Costume is a huge part of getting into character. Your body soaks in what you're wearing, and you turn into someone else.

This is going to sound cheesy, but with acting there are so many tools. When you're on camera, you're using all of it. You're using the voice, you're using your body, you're using wardrobe, all of it, but it's funny, once you take all of those things away, you realize how much you rely on the physicality.

In film, you're always using your tools, your body, your voice, your emotions, but onstage, you use them in a different way.

When I was dancing, whether it was the music or the story, the question was 'Why am I doing this piece, and why am I dancing?' It is exactly the same when you are acting. You have a very close relationship with your body movement. You have to find the physicality of your character.

Temperament can really take a toll on the voice. If you get tight in your body with the acting, then you can get tight in your voice. And then you can get tired, and you can damage yourself vocally.

My style was always intuitive. I never used to believe in working on your body. Anything that smacked of vanity to me was bad for your acting, but I learned that wasn't true.

There's nothing better than voicing a character. You don't have to worry about what you're wearing; you've got the script in front of you, and it doesn't involve your body: it's all about your voice, and it's really fast work.

The hardest thing is getting fake hit. You really have to sell it. Somebody comes at you and stops a couple inches from your face. You have to react like it's painful. In my training, those were the days I was more sore, doing gut punches or getting thrown against walls. You're moving your body in a way that's not natural.

When you're acting on camera, you don't really think of your voice. You think of the whole instrument - your body, your look, and whatever you have to do. But when you're doing the voiceover, you're thinking only of your voice. You really can't compare the two different mediums.

Your body - or my body - is just kind of stupid. Like, your body doesn't know whether you're acting something because it's happening or whether you're acting it because it's in the script.

When I started acting, I was asked said, 'What's your dream?' 'What would you like to achieve?' I would say, 'Oh, I'd like to sit opposite DeNiro and hold my own.' But, you never think it's gonna happen.