Ser'Darius Blain Quotes

I've always had a process that I do before I even get to set or go to the location. I work privately, and it almost feels like therapy between me and who I'm playing. So I have this inner life that's there and it gives me a confidence, too, that when I'm playing the role I know every question.

I like all my characters in one way or another, or at least I understand them.

I'm not the kind of actor that can go completely cold into an emotional scene. I have to transport myself emotionally by whatever means possible, and that basically means you carry the situation with you all week, all episode or all day beforehand.

But I always wanted my characters to be more than cyphers for the failings of their world. And I never had to look too hard to find a part of myself in them.

What works for me is knowing the character in an emotional sense. I wish I was more logical but it doesn't work for me like that. I need quite a lot of time; it's why I always worry when I'm doing more than one thing at a time. I hope that some sort of magic will kick in.

You know, the character of Isabelle in 'Love Crime' is the only character I feel the furthest from. I have nothing to share with her, so it was really difficult. Being an actor of composition is something, but you always base yourself on something you know about.

If you're cast right you can actually just let yourself go because all your gestures will be right, all your intonations will be right because you just somewhere understand who this person is.

For me, being able to be vulnerable is difficult, but it's just something that I feel comfortable doing. I need to fully understand why, the thought-process behind the character and I have to believe it. That comes from a lot of preparation.

There are elements of myself in every character I do, just because you take from your real life experiences and sprinkle those into your character.

There's some of me in all my characters.

You're sent scripts, and for some, as soon as you start reading them, you feel an instant connection to the character. You know who they are, you know how to play them, and there is instant enthusiasm. Then, at the audition, you don't have nerves because of that natural affinity.

Real acting is about giving people an insight into a person, letting the audience in.

It's always incredible though when you feel like the writer knows the character intimately and can see their life sprawling away outside of the show.

You have to make sure you have a relatable emotion through the movie. You have to check your ego and go into a territory and recognize that nobody knows you. You go back again and again, and by the third time, you are a star.

My hair changes with my emotions... and my purpose for the day.

A role needs a certain tone, so your own tone also changes. It's not like I lock myself up in a room to get into the zone. It is based on what I am feeling, because the minute you try too much, weird things happen. Of course, for an intense role you need some silence, and you need to do a lot of thinking.

It's hard to say what you learn acting a part. You find bits and pieces of yourself that are inside the character you play. You locate the relatable aspects of that character to your own life. So, in a way, every part you play forces you to discover things about yourself you might not have learned otherwise.

I want to be a part of stories.

The joy of doing the TV or something like 'Sacrifice' isn't really the process of doing it; the joy is going through this real-life experience.

I mean, he's one of the greatest characters I've gotten to play over my career, so there's a little bit of me in Zuko and a little bit of Zuko in me.

I prefer to do roles that I can relate to.

As actors, we have to take characters, and we have to feel for them and ultimately become them, and share that on screen so that audience feels that.

When I go to a cinema, I don't care if the film is made by a man or a woman as long as it tells me a story, as long as it offers pictures that shed light on my existence, characters I can identify with, jokes I can laugh at.

With memoir, you have the clay of your life to work with. When you're writing a novel, you have to make the clay first.

As an actor, you can't play a flashback; you can't play someone's memory. You just have to play each circumstance as if it was real and understand that person's point of view.