A great actor is independent of the poet, because the supreme essence of feeling does not reside in prose or in verse, but in the accent with which it is delivered.
It's what I learn from the great actors that I work with. Stillness. That's all and that's the hardest thing.
Doing 'Young Adult' was really reassuring to me in a lot of ways. It confirmed a lot of suspicions I had about great actors.
We had a great dramatic society in school, and that's where I first got exposure both as an actor and director.
If you are a great dramatic actor then you often don't know if people are enjoying your stuff at all because they are sitting there in silence.
You can have a bunch of great actors in a film, but if you don't have anyone telling a great story, it's a moot point.
Heart of America is a movie I'm very proud of. The young actors are great and the story has impact.
Show me a great actor and I'll show you a lousy husband. Show me a great actress, and you've seen the devil.
I think that if you're improvising on TV, it's a great way to help the dialogue between actors and writers.
I know all actors are different, but I've never sat down and asked the writers, 'Where are we headed? Am I good or bad?'
My passion is becoming involved in good work, whether that means as an actor or writer or director or producer or all - that is not as important to me.
I really think that as good of a job as you do as a writer, you're absolutely indebted to the actors that have to deliver that material.
I really have the good fortune that the actors who work with me on 'The Leftovers' are thoughtful, hard working, open people and generous people.
Actors want to surprise themselves. When it's really good, you kind of transcend yourself, and that happens infrequently. Very, very rarely.
I was sick and tired of being an English actor who did a lot of American movies because I was cheap and good.
Nicolas Cage is a great actor and he's done some good action movies too.
To be able to work with actors who are doing such good work, not only makes it easier for you, but it makes you better.
I know actors who have had to turn down good roles because they just don't pay enough. It's hard.
Any good production team is going to allow an actor to breathe life into the characters - that's why they hired that woman, that man, whatever the case.
As an actor, you are in a unique position because you're not only memorizing dialogue but really embodying it. You naturally feel the rhythm of good writing.
Unfortunately, most actors want to play off their own personal mystique and good looks and whatever, but that will only carry you but so far.
