Quotes About Acting

I went on a road trip and ended up in Portland, Oregon, and from there, I did non-stop theater. I had just graduated, and I had all these ideas about what good acting was, but I hadn't put any of it into action. I spent five years honing my acting chops. And then I had this epiphany one day that I need to go to L.A.; I need to be on a sitcom.

In 'The Trip,' I play the character named Ananya Makhija, a Delhi girl who wants to get married. This is a different character from whatever I have portrayed onscreen so far - of a sweet, small-town girl. Most importantly, you will not find a trace of my character from 'Masaan.' So, I think this will change my image of a small-town girl.

I'll be honest, acting in a commercial film has its perks - crazy stardom, crazy money and frequent trips abroad - but why would I aspire for something I'm not cut out for?

You can make somebody bad for a long time, and people love it when they then do one good thing and it's almost like a triumph. Actors seem to enjoy it more.

I didn't want to do some trivial, lame, trite, sweetie-pie, 'How thin can I be?' role.

The quote-unquote 'description' of a leading man was once your tall, handsome man with the build of whatever, almost a trophy to some degree. I think now it's about making a leading man what you want a leading man to be. In this day, you can't deny talent. You look at Jonah Hill, you look at Zach Galifianakis, you look at myself.

It's all about hustling, whether it's in Boston or the film industry. I've been hustling my entire life - acting my way into trouble and acting my way back out again. I'm just fortunate to have had the opportunity to apply it in a different direction.

I had been a real problem child, but once I got into acting, my parents never had any more trouble with me because all of that energy was directed in a positive way.

It's a slight stretch of the imagination but most people are alike in most ways so I've never had any trouble identifying with the character that I'm playing.

I love shooting, when the character is interesting and the script is interesting, but the research beforehand is really fun. The whole process makes me anxious and restless, and I have trouble sleeping, just trying to figure out the character.

The trouble with talking about acting is that it's like sex. It's enormously fun to do but just dreadfully embarrassing when you have to talk about it.

As far as acting in films, there is not much out there that is very interesting to do. The ones that are interesting to me are independent films and they have trouble raising money. With people putting their money into blockbusters, there is not much left for the independents.

It was a sort of weird, troubled road into acting because I had been a bit naughty in school until I did my Highers, and then I was like, 'Oh, I think I'm going to apply myself and surprise everyone.'

I think I've been good at getting into lonely and troubled characters because, not to brag, but I'm the complete opposite in real life.

It would be amazing to play Sylvia Plath. She was so dark, and what came out of her writing was troubled and fierce. The dimensions, levels, layers and levels would be incredible to take on.

I've played so many mean-looking troublemakers I have to keep reminding myself I'm really not a bad person deep down.

I think I must have too much to eat, we were doing a scene where we were crawling, and I ripped my trousers. I was very embarrassed. I was sown in, stitched in, quickly!

What's it like to have my trousers pulled down? It's not as awful as it seems. Doing that kind of thing with an actress like Judith Paris, who pulls them down, is easy, because she is very professional about it.

There are times when you do a play when you are living in the character over a two-and-a-half-hour period or longer, and you come to the end of the night, and you can feel like you were hit by a truck.

The first job I booked was on 'True Blood.' I played a blood siren.

Sometimes it's fun to be the guy who doesn't know that he's bad, like the character I played in 'True Blood'.

I've always been an athletic guy, but the extent to which I go for 'True Blood' or for 'Magic Mike' is because of the role that I'm playing.

'True Blood' was the most amazing adventure of my life; I met some of my best friends.

Every episode of 'True Blood' is like shooting a low budget feature.