Bubba Smith Quotes

More than anything else, I love to act and leave the rest to my director.

It's the most amazing cast, a dream cast. We laugh all the time.

On the stage, you alone hold the key, and on the night you have to trust that the director has inspired you enough to take the material and run with it.

The more and more I work with really great actors, the more it's about opening yourself up to what they bring.

Part of an actor's job, in my opinion, is adjust to the characteristics of the director and try to understand to how he tries to work.

The whole idea with acting is that you take some risks. And if you take some risks, you're really going to mess up sometimes. But it's not OK to mess up a movie; it's not OK to do that just so you can improve as an actor. But film-making takes a little bit of risk in every department.

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

Anyone who has been given the gift of being opposite an actor who gives and gives, it just makes you better.

You work with stand-up comedians or you work with somebody in theater, you work with somebody from 'Star Search' or 'Survivor' or a kid, it constantly changes how you play with people.

I totally love to act. I don't care if it's a musical, a comedy. I just like to work and interact with other people.

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

When you work with Sir Anthony there are days when he will do a lot of takes if he's really enjoying a scene.

I like doing a lot of research, and then you get there, you're in wardrobe, and then you're just reacting to what the other person is doing. The other actor is reacting to what you're doing, and it's this great back and forth. Because you've done all this research, you can use some of it or throw a lot of it out. You can get lost in it.

Once I'm on set, the only thing I'm really interested in is being in the room. Being present. And trusting that what I've done is sufficient, and I'm also trusting that I've also left room for magic.

I research every part thoroughly. I talk it out with my actor friends, but then I throw it all away when I get to the set. You have to be spontaneous.

I worked with Marlon Wayans on the show 'They Wayans Brothers,' and we hit it off. One thing about Marlon, when he casts a movie or a TV show, he expects you to bring it. You've got to be ready to improv, because Marlon will say anything, and you've got to be ready to come back.

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.

Everybody does their homework, and we all come together and just knock it out. There are adjustments to make, and if you have actors who are collaborators and who really know how to listen and be in the scene together, than it works out beautifully.

'The Mindy Project' is really best when you're loose, and we improvise a lot, and that's what's best.

Acting is just about the script and the director giving you notes. In improv, it's more about trusting that the group will carry you.

The reality about shooting films is that you can shoot many jokes and decide later which one works. So it's not worth fighting about jokes.

For me, the more talented the actor is that I'm working with, the easier my job is because the circumstances of a scene are easier to believe when the people around you are in the moment just as much as you are.

When I do the roles, when I'm in the room and auditioning, I'll ask the director if they're cool with me adding stuff, or just improvising while we're doing it. And I would say, like, 90 percent of the time, they say, 'Absolutely.'

Working with a great director is like getting a master class in acting.

In the theatre, as anyone knows who's even done amateur theatre all their lives, you immediately find a family there. Because you're under stress, you're trying to create something, you're putting on a show, you find brothers and sisters right away.