Holly Hunter Quotes

What makes an actor, I think, is a combination of a deep curiosity about life and a case of the crazies.

I do whatever I need to do to get into character. Sometimes it's being incredibly quiet, and sometimes it's being loose and goofy.

First of all, the actor needs to get out of the character's way. You follow the character without judgment or prejudice or preconceived ideas.

As an actor, I know it is my job to shape myself for a role - any role.

It's more difficult for me to get into a character in the lead-up as opposed to leaving it.

I do enter into character on set, but I can step out of it.

For an actor, it's not like you have to go crazy to do an intense role.

I'm certainly not one of those actors who remain in a dark place the entire time in order to be doing the scene. I sort of come in and out of it. It can be to the detriment of my performance sometimes!

I am not one of those actors who believes he has to live the part he is playing. I can turn it on and off.

I guess because I pay so much attention to the physical part of the character, I don't look upon it as like Charlize Theron up there. I don't think of them as like Charlize Theron films.

I do not use any set methods, not even The Method. The character after all is in the lines.

I try to steal from the best. Suck it all in. 'Taxi Driver' is really a bible for film actors, a master class. A lot of emotional power, a lot of emotional depth but it's contained and you just see the tip of the iceberg.

You know, I've never been much of a method actor. I feel like, with every project I go in extremely prepared and I like to have a good time.

I'm not an instinctive actor.

I think actors get too comfortable. I like being uncomfortable as an actor because it keeps you alive. I don't know, I think it's important.

The trick to acting is not to show off, it's to think the thoughts of the character.

Since I was from the theater, that's how I learned how to go through the process of being a character. That's how I learned, and that's what I was comfortable doing. And then, the first feature films, I'm sure I was no fun because I did not want to be spontaneous in that filmic way that really can work for you.

I feel that one of the hardest things in acting is the way you need to switch your emotions.

I live in the energy and rhythm of the character. To some degree, that's true of every actor I've worked with.

I am not of the vein of actors - and I will not pretend to be one - that takes my character home with me. I don't.

When you get to set, you don't try to play the plot; you just play the character.

I can watch movies that I've been in, and if there's an emotional scene, I remember specifically what I was using, what I was thinking about, because I am very specific in how I work.

A lot of actors like to get themselves worked up, and I think from what I saw from Mr. Redford, he goes the other way. He relaxes into it.

I don't prepare for my characters.

I am trained in theatre, and so I take time to study and get into the skin of a character.