Alan Arkin Quotes

Well, I love acting, and I love acting quick.

Once we got the scene down, we were told to improv.

You might only get three takes to do a scene; sometimes it takes longer than that to find those moments.

The day before I work, I don't like to even look at the script and let whatever happens happen on the set. But I do prepare a lot. I'm a big believer in that.

You have to run, an awful lot, on instinct. Even on 'Veep,' it's not like you get weeks of rehearsal to break out what's going on in the scenes.

I think people who are regarded as better actors must have better instincts because, at the end of the day, once they say 'action,' it's you who has to do it right. You can do all the research and preparation or none at all, but it's your instincts that tell you, 'No, I'll do it like this.'

I just arrive, they hand me a script and say, do it.

As an actor, you don't know what is going to come next.

I walk into a scene, and I do the scene. That's my job. I don't have an objective. I have the words, and I have whoever I'm playing with.

The best script in the world doesn't work perfectly when you actually act it out. That's a law. That's a given. So you have to play with everything. And the more fun you have with it, the better the finished product.

Very rarely have I had the opportunity to say lines which I would have said even if I wasn't working in a film.

I ask all my actors to do two things: I ask them to fail for me, and I ask them to surprise me.

You can't really plan with acting!

All I can do is keep my nose down and shoot the scene, shoot the scene, make it funny, make it funny, make it funny.

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

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.

You learn your lines as well as you can and you go in there and go with whatever is thrown at you. Sometimes you don't know whether or not they're going to break the scene up, so you don't have to do it all at one time.

Even when I was in school shows, in elementary school doing plays, I'd always go off book and start improvising.

I like a lot of takes. I just go on until the actors get it right.

I think that different actors go about their preparation differently, but when it comes to acting, I use my imagination.

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.

I don't mind doing scripted material. It's actually kind of a relief, because improvising is a little bit like screenwriting on your feet.

With theatre, you have to be ready for anything.

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.

What you learn from studying acting is that you have to have the courage to just make strong choices.