Philip Seymour Hoffman Quotes

Movie acting is about covering the machinery. Stage acting is about exposing the machinery. In cinema, you should think the actor is playing himself, if he's that good. It looks very easy. It should. But it's not, I assure you.

I think of myself as an actor. The duty of an actor is to be able to impersonate anything - a child, an old man, a tree, a chair, a woman.

As an actor, it's more interesting to play a nerd than anything else. It's a lot more fun - you don't worry about 'what's my hair like?' in the morning or 'which is my great angle?'

It's what I learn from the great actors that I work with. Stillness. That's all and that's the hardest thing.

We are actors. We can adapt to any different look for the sake of the story and the character.

Film acting is one of the only industries where you're criticized for working hard. In any other industry, it's considered a quality and something to behold.

Acting is all about big hair and funny props... All the great actors knew it. Olivier knew it, Brando knew it.

I love acting and really taking on another person, another life.

I do not use any set methods, not even The Method. The character after all is in the lines.

Sometimes I think of movie acting as advanced pretend.

I have just gained a deeper and deeper respect for acting and the whole art of it because you're really trying to live a life and to do the best justification for it.

As an actor, acting is like playing a sport. You do this thing that's intangible, and while it's happening, it's great. But then when it's done, there's really no tangible product. Someone else is capturing it and turning it into something tangible.

I pick up a lot of stuff from them, but I don't think there's any great trick to acting.

There's something really amazing about watching an actor like Michael C. Hall or Jennifer Carpenter, who are completely professional and do everything so brilliantly, but yet can have a really great time on set.

People take years learning how to act; it's a skill, not just a job. If I tried it out and thought I'd be OK, then perhaps I'd go for it, but it's not the kind of thing you can get into just because of your looks.

There is probably some great acting that goes on in movies from people who have never been on a stage, but if you are in for the long haul, you'd be missing an enormous part of what being an actor is if you're not part of theater.

Coming from theater, and having been to acting school, and done little, small Australian independent movies, a lot of the time, it's always about character.

Acting is make-believe. I never believe I'm the character; I want you to believe.

I truly love the rehearsal process, those eight hours a day! I really love actors.

I never thought of acting as a creative process. Christ, I used to go to the movies and see Brando talking like he was trying to sell shoes, and he was great. I thought anybody could do it. Then I tried it, and I got so uptight, I'm limited as to what I can do on film.

There was only one elective at my college for acting, but thank God for that elective because we had a great teacher who introduced me to the Meisner technique for acting. Once I read that book, I said, 'Wow, if I could do that and have that honest moment on stage, that would be amazing.'

I'm an actor and my job is to interpret.

Acting is a craft, and you need to study to be an actor.

How do I act so well? What I do is I pretend to be the person I'm portraying in the film or play.

I think chemistry and great acting go hand-in-hand.