John Lithgow Quotes

The difference between great actors and the rest of us isn't simply that they know how to make more out of less, but that, like lions at the watering hole, they will always take more than their share from the pool of available resources - extra air from the room, added knowledge from our faces.

To be a great actor, you really don't need to go to acting school or learn dance classes or work on your body. You have to be intelligent. You have to draw on a lot of emotions that you go through in life that you can tap into once you work on a set.

I've seen people with a tremendous amount of educational background in the field not turn out to be terribly good actors, and I've seen people with no education in the field turn out to be people that I admire quite a bit.

I think a lot of good actors - for instance, Gary Sinise - have no training. His training was really entirely on his feet. I suppose you have to have an instinct for it.

All good actors are very bright. You can't be stupid and a good actor. You may be inarticulate, you may not be highly educated, but all good actors are quick-witted, some of them dazzlingly so. All you do is guide them.

I think to be a good actor you need either a good experience of life or education, or both.

I like to do theater and hopefully be effective. Most actors, at least contemporary actors of my generation, can't do it. They don't have the chops.

Just because I could model didn't automatically mean I could act.

Emotional power is maybe the most valuable thing that an actor can have.

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

As an actor, you need everything you can get to be truly scary and truly memorable.

In order to be a good actor, I'm a firm believer that you need to bring something to the table.

My acting chops are awful.

Acting is one of those things that anybody can do because no one can learn it, but only a few people can really do because it's nothing you can learn.

If you got a good imagination, a lot of confidence and you kind of know what you are saying, then you might be able to do it. I know a lot of colorful characters at home that would make great actors.

Acting is what I love. I love being the chameleon, and you can't do that if you have just one physical type.

I've always been fairly confident in my acting.

Beyond any role that I ever had, really early on as a stand-up, I would see actors decide to try it and they would bomb miserably. What I realized was that stand-up, acting and writing are all their own disciplines.

I knew absolutely nothing about acting, and had to be taught everything. Some people are born naturals and know how to walk, talk and hold themselves. I didn't and had to learn everything.

The armoury of having any academic education does not necessarily set you up for being a good or better actor.

I think anybody can be a good actor.

I don't think I really have a talent for movie acting. I'm not bad at it, but I don't think I really have a talent for it.

My dream role would be someone anything that Meryl Streep can do. 'Julia and Julia' - I thought that was beautiful. She just had the essence of her. To truly become someone, invoking emotions like happiness and sadness and everything in between, that's what I want to be able to do.

I don't really know how to act that much. I'm quite good at comedy, but it's mostly acting naturally.

I have never really believed that acting is very difficult. I think some people have a skill and are able to act, and if you have that natural gift, it's not difficult.