Scott Ellis Quotes

I feel like a lot of directing is casting.

I keep saying this, but the most important part of directing is casting, and the rest of it is pretty easy.

Casting is 65 percent of directing.

I think every actor would probably say that it's always a collaboration. And if you ask directors, they'll tell you that they expect the actors to bring something. They don't want to be thinking for everybody.

I love rehearsals and I love creating a character, sticking with it until you have something to tell. It's always different though. Sometimes a director will tell you from day one what they want. Then you throw in your idea.

I really miss the rehearsal process of theater.

Good actors are a dime a dozen, but I want actors that are gonna be part of my team and collaborative.

There is only so much you can do if you're pulling weight and there's nobody there to play off of. You can't have those beautiful moments with new actors who are so worried about everything else but the moment.

'Cheers' was great. They paired me up with Shelley Long on this tiny bar set for the final audition. That was my first really big one, and we just clicked instantly - I still think I got the part because of Shelley.

My job, as an actor, is to give the director options. You can only hope that the takes that you thought were the best were chosen. But, then again, if I don't watch it, I'll never know.

There's nothing like working with the best actors possible, and if you have a piece of material like, 'Long Way Down' or 'Love Punch,' which allows you to play, then it's just a joy to go to work.

It is hard sometimes to see how other actors are working when you are working with them.

Having learnt my basics in theatre, I always feel film is a collaborative effort. If you do your part well and help the person in front of you in realising his or her potential, the film invariably comes out good.

I try to create an environment where, when we step onto the set, we're all in character.

The relationship with the cast has everything to do with how a performance develops, and in a sense that while you're discovering a play in the course of rehearsal with the director, you're also discovering it with your fellow actors. We're all in it together.

Some people work very closely with a director or a producer on something, and from the get go, they're collaborating. But typically, it's just go in for an audition, do the best you can, and if the phone rings a couple of days after the audition and you get the part, that's great.

What I always loved about theater is that that's an experience that a company of actors just sinks itself into for weeks, and you really get to work on the material, and by the time you're in front of an audience, you really own it.

I went into performing for the community. Being backstage with your company of fellows is the best part of working in live theater. That energy, that combined focus, the synergy - it's addictive.

I just love the process of working with other actors.

Acting isn't a singular profession, it is a collaborate profession.

As a director, it is important to understand the actor's process.

Casting is a long process for me. I take a lot of time.

Acting is probably the number one team sport in America as far as I'm concerned.

One of the exciting and enjoyable aspects of acting is being in the environment with another actor.

Acting is the work of two people - it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director.