Quotes About Acting

Can I be a leading man? I don't believe myself to be; I don't think that I am, but I'm in this place as a performer where I think about how to make things smaller, more subtle.

I learnt to keep my acting subtle.

Acting is a subtle combination of hiding and revealing yourself, and as I'm not an extrovert, this is painful for me.

When you're doing lots and lots of episodes and you're playing the same character, it's great because you really get to know the character and it becomes a really fast style and you find subtleties in it.

Just to get a job is always really exciting to me. I do feel there's a lot left for me to learn about movies, the subtleties of acting.

When you're in seeing someone like Ellen Page, and you're right then, it's just the two of you. You're locked in. There's this incredible subtlety and control of the actor who's sitting across from you that you're really required to step up your game.

In terms of scripted shows, I love 'Mad Men.' Cinematically, it's one of the most beautiful shows ever made. I love the subtlety of the acting and the storytelling, and I love that they don't think the audience is dumb. They make a great show, and you figure it out, and it leaves you with so many questions - it's just great.

I was the suburban kid of Scottish parents, and the idea of an acting career was so beyond my experience. I didn't even know there were drama schools until a friend told me.

My dad was an actor, and he made it all seem quite magical. It felt like a slightly subversive thing, telling stories, when all of my other friends' parents were builders or bank clerks. It's always seemed quite magical to me.

We know there has been a history of needing to be closeted to succeed and be famous, especially in acting.

People always ask me if I'm going to stop modeling because I have started an acting career. I hope to continue to model for years to come.

I am like a puppet sitting here. It's not just I; all of us are puppets. Nature is pulling the strings, but we believe we are acting. If you function that way (as puppets), then the problems are simple. But we have superimposed on that (the idea of) a "person" who is pulling those strings.

but get this straight: Absolutely nobody in the world gives a flying fuck. You want to be an actor? Fine. But never, ever bitch about it.' Advice I've heeded to this day.

You are acting, not being." Strasberg explained, "I stress the difference between the actor who thinks acting is an imitation of life, and the actor who feels acting is living

I'm a full-time mom right now and a part-time actress.

My passion is doing movies, and as long as I keep doing that, I'll be happy. I want to do movies, fun roles and dramatic ones. I love all of it.

My passion is doing movies, so as long as I keep doing that I will be happy.

I've played a lot of mothers in my movies.

When you have to get into the character each morning, give it your voice, your face, it was torture.

You can fake your age or mask it, but the passion that moves the characters has to be real.

My mother had not acted for ten years. Not since a reviewer wrote that her portrayal of Lady Macbeth put him in mind of an exasperated society hostess burdened with unmannerly guests who had lost the new tennis balls, left the bathrooms in a mess, and finished the gin.

People think that if you look fairly reasonable, you can't possibly act, and as I only care about acting, I think beauty can be a great handicap.

Beauty was never really my trip. Maybe those roles are attracted to me?

Elijah looks angelic but his beauty of spirit is what makes his Frodo leap out of the screen. Unalloyed goodness is one of the most difficult attributes to act.