Quotes About Acting

I don't have to talk to a surgeon to play a surgeon, you know what I mean?

Acting is a great way to make a living, especially when I consider what my alternatives were and probably still are. I mean, you are only making movies. It is a lot less pressure than being a surgeon; although it seemed like the only other thing that I was qualified for was manual labour.

I ask myself, 'What is the value of acting and the attention that actors get? And yet there are so many people in the world doing incredible things for mankind, and they don't get much attention.' I do question about that, but I don't think I would've been a great doctor. I think I would've been a good surgeon. That fascinated me.

I am dying to play the role of a surgeon and if there is a medical series on TV, I would love to do it.

Plastic surgery and breast implants are fine for people who want that, if it makes them feel better about who they are. But, it makes these people, actors especially, fantasy figures for a fantasy world. Acting is about being real being honest.

I think it's strange when people my age and younger get surgery. Somebody's got to play old people.

The exciting part of acting, I don't know how else to explain it, are those moments when you surprise yourself.

My imagination is rather limited, so it would be challenging to get roles that surprise me.

One of the reasons why I love acting is my obsession with human emotion and faces and expressions - no surprise, then, that I usually end up painting faces. But I haven't done a self-portrait. I'd be too scared.

I personally take cues directly from the script, then I like to surprise the other actors. But you must maintain control on a level and see how far you can go up, down or out emotionally. You have to balance the craft with spontaneity.

I didn't picture myself as a movie actress. I began to think about it around college. I remember thinking, 'Well somebody has to be in them,' so maybe I could do that eventually. It's all been a surprise.

I'm one of five; I have three sisters, so I've always had three best girlfriends. Actually, I'm the middle child, so it's no surprise I went into acting! There's a need to be seen.

I grew up on movie sets, so it was something I just found familiar. When I was growing up also, in high school, I would audition for things and my parents let me audition for things - with the thought that I wouldn't get them. And then I would get them... sometimes, and it would surprise them.

The longer I've been doing this, the more I've realized that you have no idea what kinds of roles are possible for you - dream roles can take you by surprise. That being said, I need to play Hamlet one day. I'd also love to be in a play that I have written myself.

After I found that I had become an actor, slightly to my surprise, I did have some insecurity, and I did take some rather strange acting classes at a place called The Actor's Studio in London. I don't think they did me any good at all.

Like anything else, acting can become boring - a chore, really - if there isn't any challenge. And I like taking challenges. Just when people think they have me figured out, I like to surprise them.

Surprise is a huge element in acting.

Sometimes, you don't know what's going to happen to your character until the night before you shoot the scene. So, sometimes, you get a great big surprise at the very last minute, which is scary sometimes. You don't have a whole lot of time to prepare.

I had no idea who Elektra was. When the producers asked me before I booked the job, I had to tell them. It was a great surprise when I actually got the job.

I'm good at forgetting auditions, and then there is a surprise to getting something.

Surprise is something that's very difficult to act.

I think the best actors do both. I think they fulfill what you want them to do, in terms of the vision for the whole piece. And then they always bring something that does surprise you and shock you.

I love doing characters that surprise people and showing what I am, which is an actor, first and foremost.

It's always a pleasant experience while acting because I like to surprise myself and the audience with what I do.