actors Quotes

I knew the President would run for reelection in 1984. Why not? Actors love sequels ... and returns.

We [black actors] are more respected in Europe, because in Europe, I'm not a black actor - I'm an action star. In America, I'm a black actor.

Actors are always outsiders. It's necessary to be able to interpret - and that gets distorted when you become famous.

Certainly the movies were always in the air for me. I come from the era when actors thought it was a big deal to be in the movies.

A lot of actors choose parts by the scripts, but I don't trust reading the scripts that much. I try to get some friends together and read a script aloud. Sometimes I read scripts and record them and play them back to see if there's a movie. It's very evocative; it's like a first cut because you hear 'She walked to the door,' and you visualize all these things. 'She opens the door' . . . because you read the stage directions, too.

Being the actors of the craft, the trade, one of the big things you do and you learn is about repeating. There is something to the repeats. I think that is part of what is healthy to young actors. Get out and learn something just through doing that, repeating.

The most important definition of an actor, the job of the actor, is to serve the writer, not yourself. Way too many actors serve themselves.

My great joy in working on anything is stepping out in front of the camera and working with the actors.

Actors are like kids, they need to play a little bit. And that's the nature of their job, they need to shake off some energy and then you as the director get them back on track. When you do loosen up the reins, you get some amazing things, but you have to wring out the performances for every last good drop.

Actors are insanely competitive and they hold back on each other. They are like magicians and none of them want to show their tricks.

My circle of friends are not actors at all. None of them are actors, really, because they're are not available. They're always off somewhere.

I've never been competitive with other actors. I've been competitive with myself and I'm my own worst critic, a terrible critic I am, and unless I get something right, I feel very unhappy.

For me, a lot of these actors are new. For me, I only worked with Finn [Whittrock] and Michael Chiklis. So a lot of these actors are people I've been a huge fan of for years and are bucket-list actors for me to get to work with. It's pretty surreal now getting to step into scenes with them.You all get to find your characters together.

I've always known actors because my parents are actors on stage and so I lived in a very creative environment when I was a kid. All my life.

As actors, we react to the material that's out there, and I probably just react more strongly to things that I feel will have some social value.

As a film director I like to have the actors create their own close-ups. It's an older style of filmmaking.

When I got into the movie business, working with actors was the one thing I was really weak at. I didn't know what to say to actors. They scared me and intimidated me. The actors that I've worked with who have had a lot of experience, or who I've even grown up watching as a kid, were really scary. I was like, \'What am I going to say to this person?\' But, I've matured. It's fun. I understand what actors do now.

Most actors are drawn towards historical tellings because it's one of the most simple forms of storytelling.

I insist that they do what they became actors to do. I want them to create something and not just hit marks and say words. So they all love that because they're playing. It's called playacting. Their contributions are not only welcomed, but are accepted and used.

The fact of the matter is that most actors are shy people.

I've never had a desire to be famous. Lots of actors are actually extremely shy. I have shy areas.

I think most actors are shy. I really do. The greatest actors can disappear. I had friends call me the Blend-In Man.

The actors today really need the whip hand. They're so lazy. They haven't got the sense of pride in their profession that the less socially elevated musical comedy and music hall people or acrobats have. The theater has never been any good since the actors became gentlemen.

So many people are called but few serve as actors, you know what I mean?

I've always believed that the greatest actors are the ones that have the voices that are imitable.

I love working with younger actors because they always come into the game full of energy and ideas that challenge me and keep me learning and stimulated.

I do understand sometimes when actors say there's no one to talk to, or you can't react to, there's truth in that, but for me, I've always enjoyed green screen, and blue screen.

There are two types of actors. There's the actors who can acknowledge that they could never do standup comedy. Then there's the pretentious ones, who believe that acting is harder than standup comedy. I definitely don't think it is. I also think making a comedy is substantially harder than making a drama.

Mr. [John] Barrymore's smile was the smile of an actor who hates actors, and who knows that he is going to kill two or three before the play is over. I am not an actor-killer, but I like my Hamlets to dislike actors, if you know what I mean, and I think you don't.

I like young actors because they're so unspoiled, not like some of those actors who are about half an hour into their fifteen minutes of fame by the time they get to me.