Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their surroundings.
Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn't hiss or boo me.
When you take on a role, even if the character is somebody that you are dissimilar to, you have to identify with the role and look for an emotional connection even if there is not a biographical one.
Me being a shy kid, very closed off, showing vulnerability in a character was sort of a safe space on stage. It's always been in my toolbox, there for me when I need it.
I don't think I will do a Mafia character again. I want to get away from the violence a little bit, because it is starting to bother me personally.
Normally you read a screenplay - and I read a lot of them - and the characters don't feel like people. They feel like plot devices or cliches or stereotypes.
Your responsibility is to not question God’s actions or what looks like a lack of action. Your obligation is to count on God’s character.
I'm a personality - like a George Plimpton who effectively plays himself in a bunch of different roles, or a Paul Lynde-type character.
I wasn't beautiful, so there were plenty of character roles. I never did any Shakespeare, I'm far too superficial for that. I just act instinctively.
Character forms a life regardless of how obscurely that life is lived and how little light falls on it from the stars.
Every actor wants to have a character that changes, that has some kind of movement, that gets from point A to point B, that doesn't just supply one note.
The stories in 'Parenthood' are so much the stories of our lives. And the people who have worked on the show feel very connected to these characters.
It interests me to imagine characters shifting from one situation and one location to another for whatever the circumstances may be.
I do what I do because of Walt Disney - his films and his theme park and his characters and his joy in entertaining.
We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us.
I'm not interested in characters who aren't broken. I'm not interested in happy people. It just doesn't draw me as a writer.
If you were to look back at me as a school kid you'd see a very quiet little church mouse kind of character.
I desire to assist in attracting to this profession young men of character and ability, also to help those already engaged in the profession to acquire the highest moral and intellectual training.
Male critics and men in the publishing industry want from their women writers what they want from their wives. I'm interested in presenting characters that are more challenging, threatening, complicated and unpredictable.
I haven't personally in my real life had many people close to me die, but my characters have, and I've had to live that as though it's real. And it can take a really big emotional toll on someone.
I remember one time that I was filming a scene in whych my character rides through Troy on a chariot. I just looked around at this incredible set thinking 'This is the life'.
