Tom Hooper Quotes

I love acting. I just love it. It's in my bones. I remember when I was a kid, I watched an interview with Dennis Hopper talking about Jimmy Dean on the set of Rebel Without A Cause. Jimmy said to him, "If you've got to cry in a scene, you've got to cry. Make it real." And that's all that I believe in.

A great actor is simply just seeing him or herself, and reacting to what exists around them.

The worst acting is about imitation.

There's a Zen to acting, by being in the moment. That's where the power is.

I like to be in the now, now. Sometimes musicians have to wait for me to be genuine with it. As an actor, I don't have that luxury. You have to make it legit when they say 'action.'

I can't just say the words, do a lot of one-liners. I love each person I play; I have to be that person. I have to do him true.

I was a student of Stella Adler and then later Lee Strasberg, and they were into sensory work. At its best, acting is not about words - even when the words are important.

I am a natural actor. I try to keep it spontaneous as far as possible. That is my mantra.

I generally won't do a role unless I feel like it's in my system somewhere, even if it's just a molecule of it. Like I just felt like I knew it and if I talked about it or discussed it or tried to rehearse it that it would take away the energy from that scene so I went in there and just did it.

If I was an actor, it would be like a part that was me. It has to be real to me. I have to make it mine. I really enjoy taking a song I feel that way about, and sometimes it can take a long time to come up with just the right touch. I think that's really my greatest talent, interpreting.

I believe acting truly is harnessing the power of belief.

As an actor, I function from a place of compassion and empathy - you have to believe 100 percent what your character is doing, because otherwise it will look like it's not real.

Acting is like sex. You should just do it and not talk about it.

Acting is the only time when I truly maintain the spontaneity that I want to be present at all times.

What you're trying to do as an actor is somehow trick yourself into believing that these words have never been said, and so you've got to discover them for the first time.

Theatrically, you are aware of every part of you in acting; every component of your surroundings, including the clothes you wear. Eh...in voiceover, shorts and a t-shirt and badaboom...done.

When I do a character, I try to base it on someone I have met or an experience I've had.

I'm the kind of person who if I was playing the role of someone who got shot, I'd probably want to get shot so I knew what it felt like.

I've always believed acting is an improvisational art form, even when not a single line is changed. I mean, the behavior should always be improvised. My favorite moments in any performance are when I'm just along for the ride; when I'm surprising myself. I know when I'm done and I think to myself, 'Gee, I didn't see that coming,' I've done well.

Creating a character and living truthfully through her is a whole different ball game. It's all part of the same person but it's a much newer medium for me.

For me, acting is doing.

When a role seems fun it's easy to play. It kind of comes organically.

I love the idea of playing a character that didn't over think everything. He knows what's in front of him and he has an ability to just say whatever he felt.

I'm a rational person, and I'm not a method actor. You don't need to call me by my character's name while I'm not shooting.

I don't like improv at all. It terrifies me. I like to know exactly what I'm going to say. Being surprised does make me a better actor. Anytime I'm afraid of something that makes me rise to the occasion, it scares me, but it's what makes great actors - being in the moment.