Joanna Going Quotes

So what's so enticing about doing a play is that you get to do that thing that got you into acting in the first place... There's a real attraction to being able to play, to just play. And that's something that theater affords you.

I want to do roles that will challenge me. I'm definitely interested in period pieces. But I definitely don't want to limit myself. I'm very open to different roles.

Doing theater is such a specifically energetic and almost acrobatic work.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

You know, the great thing about acting or, indeed, filmmaking in general, is that we're all given a reason to do research. You kind of have to, really, if you want to know what you're doing, but it opens up this whole new understanding.

An actor is an impersonator; he plays many different roles. If you played the same role all the time, God - that'd be a boring career. When you take on different roles and become a different person, that's called acting... It's a challenge.

I love theater. To have the people onstage right there, to be working in concert with other artists, this is a like a school of fish moving together.

I love TV now, and 'Modern Family,' but what draws me back to theater is that initial instinct of wanting to be a theater actor. I love the challenge of starting a play and not stopping until you finish. I love the immediacy of trusting your instincts.

I love acting; I don't want to give up on it at all, but it would be nice to step behind the camera once in a while as well.

I love doing theater so much - being in front of an audience and seeing how a character grows and develops with every performance.

When I was on Broadway, my most recent Broadway show was 'Spring Awakening,' and every night I did a topless scene.

Yeah, I do get to do some theater occasionally. I don't get to do it as much as I would like to.

Directing is something I always wanted to do. I started when I was 13 directing scenes in high school and then plays in college with my theatre company.

It was a wonderful experience to live the life for a year; to spend all day doing Shakespeare and then do a play in the evening.

I never thought I'd be one of those old hams who favours theatre over everything, but I'm getting that way. Telly and film seemed more fun when I was younger; turning left on planes and washing up in nice places. But there are things that you only learn in theatre.

Acting is the most communicative thing I can imagine doing.

My approach to 'Eastenders' is the same as my approach to film and the same approach to theatre. Whatever I do, I use the same skills and tools.

I'm an entertainer, so in whatever form I entertain... The thing about being a rapper is that you have more control over your form, whereas with acting you have to compromise a lot.

What I like about theater is its team work. Theater is also all-time creativity.

When people ask, 'What role are you dying to play?' I always say, 'The one being written for me right now.'

Acting is like roller skating. Once you know how to do it, it is neither stimulating nor exciting.

It's just a very different process from maybe working one or two days a week doing one or two scenes a day versus sustaining a performance over two hours or so eight times a week.

I look at actors like Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro, and they play all these different characters. I'm hoping that, in my lifetime, I'll be able to look back and say, 'You know what? I did all these different characters, and I enjoyed every single film I did.'

Acting is a mysterious process.

When you do a play, you do it for a couple months, and it just gets in your bones. You can learn about somebody that way.