Peter Ustinov Quotes

Stage work, that's all I have in my background. Wasteland was my first TV experience. Dawson's was my first long-term, I mean the entire season of 22 episodes.

I love the stage. It's terrifying in a way that film and television is not. When you're about to go out, and you're adrenaline just gets out of control, and that can be really daunting.

I think doing dramas kind of wears on you. It's just intense.

I auditioned for the role of Jamie Mitchell in 'EastEnders,' and it was between me and Jack Ryder, and he got it.

I did five seasons of 'Baywatch,' and I did four seasons of 'VIP.' I've been around awhile.

Acting was a lot like football. When you're a DB and you're one on one with a receiver, you're going to dance. It's go-time in front of 100,000 people and everybody watching on TV. That's exactly how it is when a director says 'Action!' It's the same adrenaline rush, the same training process. I love it.

I love acting on television and look forward to more roles, for sure. And I also love and need to perform live shows.

If I could live a parallel life, I would be a sitcom star; being in front of a live audience would be great.

I've always been pretty reserved, but after taking drama classes in middle school to get more comfortable performing in front of people, I thought I should try out for television.

It's hard work to think away all those 200 people or 40 people, whatever the crew is, that are around behind the camera. To also think about, 'Whatever I'm doing now is going to be seen by a million people,' it doesn't really help my performance.

Soap operas are like TV boot camp. You have to be able to self-direct, learn a ton of dialogue in a short amount of time, and deliver a performance in one or two takes.

When you audition for something, and you book it, you think, 'Okay, well, I got the job, and now I actually have to show up on set and do it.' So, you show up on set, and you don't know, 'Am I going to get swallowed up by these people?'

A scene, a day of shooting, can often make you feel kind of stupid and inept because your one job is to anticipate and react and know what to go for.

Rehearsal for film is tough. Until the camera's there, everything changes.

It's funny, because even though on a drama like 'Picket Fences' those long monologues would stress me out, doing special effects where there's a green screen and there's nobody there to to react to and you have to recite all this dialogue, it's so much more difficult.

Every role I get is always a challenge. I can read a script and say, 'Oh, I can do that!' and then when I start working on it, I suddenly realize that I had no idea what I was getting into. Then I have to really work hard!

I'm affected by the characters I play, and sometimes they're hard to live with.

There were times when I thought I had to be completely off-book and ready to give my opening night performance at the audition, but then I swung back to a more relaxed view of it. Certainly you've looked at the material and prepared it, but there's no reason to be off-book. You're not getting points for being off-book.

My last audition for 'Baby Driver,' I had to meet with Jon Hamm and go through the scenes. I was a bit nervous: 'What if Jon Hamm dislikes me? This is the end.' I also watched 'Mad Men' religiously, so that didn't help with my nerves.

I remember once they sent me over to read for a show called 'Mork and Mindy.' I heard gales of laughter, then Robin Williams walked out. I had to follow Robin Williams.

I've done so much drama on television that it's very hard to sit down and watch other actors work. I find my interest is more in the real world.

I always hate it when I see the wrong person in massive roles, so for me, my biggest fear would be accepting a role I thought I wouldn't find the rhythm of.

Television is very instant. Theatre is much more free, but you are very much on your own up there on stage and in control of your own performance.

It's such a high-pressure form of live entertainment that I found, once I got out there, being on a movie set isn't that different from being on 'Monday Night RAW.' It's all stuff that I was prepared for.

I think nerves are part and parcel of working as an actor. You can either work against them or you can embrace them, and I very much embrace them.