Actor Quotes

I was fortunate as a young actor, to go straight to the RSC, where I learned that being an actor can bring with it wonderful responsibilities.

It's not like I had big dreams to go to California and become an actor. I loved doing my shows at school and community theater, and I probably would have settled in New York because it was closer. I was going to go to NYU.

How was I going to make a man fly? How was I going to convince the public that an actor could fly?

I think it's sort of a rite of passage for a British actor to try and get the American accent and have a good crack at doing that.

I'm living every ten-year-old boy's fantasy. The other day, Chris and I had this big scene where we had to pull out our guns, and I was thinking, 'Here we are in New York City - a place where every actor wants to be - and we are literally playing cops and robbers. How great is that?'

There's editing, and scripts to read and edit, and casting, and all the elements of production that just sort of take up the normal downtime that you would have as an actor. So there's not a lot of that for me.

I wouldn't say I'm a method actor. I do research when I feel I don't have enough experience for the part I'm playing.

So I started to learn Russian and I was one of those probably way too eager, annoying young actor kids who was trying to change all my lines to Russian, much to the dismay of the director and Nic Cage.

An actor is only merchandise.

I understand that if you set out to be a celebrity, then you asked for it, but all I wanted to be was an actor.

Oh yes. I'm an actor, so I just learn my lines, and show up and do it. I gave it a little bit of thought.

We are not the originators of the story. I think it's actually the opposite when you're an actor. You're telling somebody else's story.

I'm not that complicated as an actor. I have a formula in which I work, yeah. But not like Sean Penn does. Sean is one of the few actors I know who can work like that, actually becoming the character he is playing, and get consistent results. I don't believe you can ever be someone else. You manifest different levels of your own personality to come up with a character.

Look, I'm not odd. I'm just trying to be an actor; not a movie star, an actor.

So I went and did an audition and became the biggest radio actor in Sydney, and that's how it all started.

I don't think an actor's job is to be recognized. I think an actor's job is to facilitate the writing in a way that changes the way people think. No other business does that.

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.

I think the more the actor lets you know what he thinks of the character, the less the audience cares - like a comedian who laughs at his own jokes.

I do not regret one professional enemy I have made. Any actor who doesn't dare to make an enemy should get out of the business.

The actor becomes an emotional athlete. The process is painful - my personal life suffers.

I think when your image becomes so big that it's hard for a viewer to see a character, then I think you're in danger as an actor of being unable to perform what you should be doing.

Being unemployed is not good for an actor. No, it isn't, no matter how unsuccessful you are. Because you always remember getting fired from all the restaurants. You remember that stuff very, very strongly.

When I got to the reading all the work, I was reduced to being an actor in an experimental play that I'd already written. And I didn't want to be an actor.

Every part I play is just a variant of my own personality. No real character actor, of course, just me.

You know, I don't think you need to be educated to be a great actor.

I love independent films, it's the only place as an actor you're totally allowed to breathe.

I knew real show business from my father, who had been an actor since he left the world of boxing.

I don't feel like a romantic lead; I guess I feel more like a character actor.

My dream as a youngster was to be like Olivier. To be a great stage actor. To be a great Shakespearean actor. To me that is the Olympics of acting.

There's the pressure of being a No. 1 on the call sheet, being a lead actor. There's almost this feeling like being captain of the team. You want to put a bit of energy into actually setting a good example.