Scott Ellis Quotes

When I am rehearsing for a play, I try to read nothing that might distract my concentration from the work in progress.

I was only interested in my scene, and I had to go through thousands and thousands of other scenes. I got my scene and I read it many, many, many, many, many times. That was my research.

Sometimes you do complete run-throughs of scenes, sometimes you break scenes down into little bits. It just depends on what the actors like to do. It's almost like jamming.

For me, rehearsal is only about blocking and pacing; it's not about performance.

Whenever I am acting, it's everything, you know. If I'm researching a role, I'm completely consumed in that and, between action and cut, I live in this suspended time.

I have directed good actors and have gone through the process which is more detailed in theater in a way. You have to get people to stay for two or three hours in a performance. They need more talk and rehearsal than in films.

I think one of the mistakes actors make is we're so focused on what we're going to say.

The rehearsal is where it all happens for an actor.

I only work with actors who take full responsibility for their characters.

The rehearsal time is almost my favourite part of being an actress, particularly if you're working on a play that hasn't been done before.

I think that sometimes in theater, I don't prepare much beyond going to the rehearsals.

I think is very beneficial to relax yourself so that when you are doing it you are not staggering for lines and your concentration is not on what I am going to say - but the scene itself, the character that you are talking to.

There is no such thing as too much rehearsal. When Daniel Day-Lewis told Steven Spielberg he needed a year for 'Lincoln,' I understand that.

There's pre-production, and the second part is when you start rehearsal. Pre-production was a very large learning curve for me.

I am an actor, and that's the most important thing to me. I cannot imagine a life where I would be anything else but an actor, so putting all my energy into a shot comes naturally to me.

You never learn to act in front of a camera. You never learn anything in front of a camera. But you learn to act in a rehearsal room with a good play and a good cast and a good director.

I love rehearsing; it's the best part of the job.

The importance of rehearsal is maybe you want to talk about how the scene's going to be designed, how it's going to be staged, all of those things. It's all about preparation, and deciding what mutually you don't want to do, rather than necessarily what you do.

I never went to stage school or anything like that. It was always plays, productions at school and things like that. The thing for me with acting was it was the only thing I could fully concentrate on. I loved playing sports. I didn't really love studying.

I learn the whole script before I show up.

In choosing any role, I ask the same questions: what kind of part is it? is the role challenging? does the director have a vision? is the story moving? etc.

I've done films where we don't rehearse, and I've done films where we heavily rehearse. I like rehearsals.

I try not to think about any of the production side of things. If you do, you tend to get unfocused and distracted. I just try to think about the character and the scene and what I'm doing.

There's nowhere to hide in the theatre. You can't be the one in rehearsal who doesn't know their lines.

All the things you can do to prepare for a role that free you, in the moment, are great. You have this muscle memory for things. You don't have to act it as much, once you've done it enough.