I don't any longer make any quality judgement between theater and cinema. They are different experiences for the audience, and they also are for the actors - although they have a lot in common.
There are lots of wonderful actors doing animated films these days, but I prefer it when you can't recognise them - it means they've really become the character.
As an actor, you can do what you want with your role. That's why they hire you; to take the role and make it real.
I only became an actor to get your attention, to challenge the archetype of an African American male; I can't be anything else in this lifetime than an African American man.
If I ask my actors to bare themselves, to reveal themselves as almost naked, I have to bare myself, expose myself as well. That's what creates excitement.
Writers are like actors too. For every story we create, we must get under the skin of the characters and role play with our writing.
It's a tough transition really for theater actors to adjust to television or film, and all of these years later, I still have a tendency to play it too big.
I grind my teeth and keep my thumbs in so tight that I've dislocated them, just not to scream. Sometimes as an actor one is lucky enough to be asked to scream.
Nowadays, in the contract that actors sign, you have to agree that you're going to do a certain amount of publicity-the hard part they don't pay you for.
I don't call myself an actor, I call myself an entertainer, because I don't just do one thing.
I want to do films that challenge me. I want to do what the actors I look up to are doing - the Gary Oldmans and Daniel Day-Lewises.
What I do quite honestly and seriously and not in any way being humble is not as important as what the garbage collector does. People make actors important.
All of them - my father, mother, step-mother, and grandmother - were all wonderful actors and performers and they are an inspiration to me, both in their craft and in their humanity.
When I signed up for Y&R, my actor friends said, 'A daytime soap? It'll kill your career!' Now they'd trade places with me in a heartbeat.
When you're an actress, there are only a few times you can really get paid. One of them is doing a sequel. They can't fake you or hire another actor to play you.
I'm always amazed at the way some actors' behaviour is truly disgusting. That's one thing that will never happen on one of my sets if I ever direct.
I used to joke I was a point-and-click actor. My whole process has been about trusting your instincts and hitting your mark.
If I can make a career for myself after Potter, and it goes well, and is varied and with longevity, then that puts to bed the 'child actors argument'.
My taste in the films I've taken as an actor is similar to what I'd do a director or writer: all quite odd, challenging stuff, slightly off-the-wall.
I really want my career to be as an actor-writer-director-producer, you know? I don't know what will be stronger than the other.
The auditioning process is one in which the actor gets very little information about almost every element of it.
