Quotes About Illusion

The magic of landing my first role on Broadway went 'poof' in a matter of a few weeks.

Everyone thinks with 'Smash,' because it looks glossy and big, they think they're spending a fortune, and they think it's taking weeks to shoot.

We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt.

I see the state of all of us who live, nothing more than phantoms or a weightless shadow.

It's always weird doing love scenes. And the thing is, you can't really photograph two people kissing naturally, because then you wouldn't be able to see anything.

The weird thing about film, which I don't really care for, is that I'm always surprised when I see the film. One way or another, I'm always surprised.

A really good impressionist, even if they don't look at all like the person they're impersonating, it's a weird thing where they start to look like that person. It's kind of odd.

One of the weird things about Hollywood is we're all imposters; we're all just glammed up.

I always feel like people in general are much weirder and insane than anybody really wants to admit. How dare somebody watch anything and go, 'That's not real!' Go on the subway. For five minutes.

When people see my makeup, they think all types of crazy things that I'm doing to my skin, but it's makeup. It's the weirdest thing. They'll see contouring and think you had surgery on your nose. No. No. No. Look at 'RuPaul's Drag Race' and you'll see... you can make your nose look... what ever shape you want it.

Most of us enter adult life with great ambitions for how we will start our own ventures, but the harshness of life wears us down. We settle into some job and slowly give in to the illusion that our bosses care about us and our future, that they spend time thinking of our welfare.

Attractive labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the name of public welfare and personal security.

We really can't forecast all that well, and yet we pretend that we can, but we really can't.

There are some frauds so well conducted that it would be stupidity not to be deceived by them.

It's nice to sort of walk in and at least create the illusion that you are, or your character is, a well-rounded human being, a complete person. Especially when you're playing these impressive, high-functioning professionals. You feel like you have to come in sort of guns blazing.

I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different.

Things ain't what they used to be and never were.

'Streetcar' is no longer about the moment at all. There is no Blanche DuBois anywhere; south, north, east or west. We don't have Blanche DuBois at the moment. But we have Willy Loman; everywhere we look we see Willy Loman. We are Willy Loman. We're on Facebook; we need to be known; we're selling all the time.

What Western society teaches us is that if you get enough money, power, and beautiful people to have sex with, that's going to bring you happiness. That's what every commercial, every magazine, music, movie teaches us. That's a fallacy.

We need a romantic illusion to embark on relationships in the first place. After that, they survive or fail for other, more practical reasons.

It doesn't bother me to work with so much green screen. I prefer real settings obviously.

There is no prejudice so strong as that which arises from a fancied exemption from all prejudice.

I think I have just always had an awareness that when you go to a premiere and people start cheering and shouting your name and stuff, they are shouting at a perception of you that they have.

Ninety percent of the preparation we do as actors is just jive. It doesn't do anything.