Cathy Moriarty Quotes

And I taught acting for years, and without knowing it that was the real thing that started bending me toward directing.

I had an acting coach while I was doing the show and every week I could see my work improving. I really liked working on the show because I was learning new things every day.

I can speak to actors in their terms. Knowing I was an actor, they relax. You can have the best shot in the world - but, at the center of it, you still need a good performance.

It's a funny thing. You sort of never figure it out with acting. You're always learning.

As an actor, your life experience is just as important as studying.

My only qualifications to be an actor were that I'm daring, and I'm a quick learner. I've always learnt by watching what other people do. It's the same with my writing. I write what I know. Structurally, I write in a very undisciplined way.

If there's one thing that I know how to do, it's talk to actors. From what I have experienced working with so many different directors in so many different things, a lot of them don't really know how to talk to us.

Working with a great actor is really educational.

With acting, it's like you form chemistry with different people in different ways, so it's really added even more fun to work, you know?

I'm an actor's director. I love it when talented actors can bring characters to life.

I'm attracted to roles that are unpredictable, and if I can get my hands on something like that, I'm thrilled. I like performances where you don't know what's coming, moment to moment.

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

I feel lucky to be an actor because you always learn something from each part you play.

On paper, actors are the dumbest group of individuals essentially out there. Most of us have not gone to college. However, we never stop learning. Because of what we do, we're constantly researching, constantly learning.

One was never taught how to begin at drama school. But all it required was one intake of breath.

I learned my business in the theater and in television, particularly working with the actors. You can learn much more in the theater than directing a movie, because then you have no time when you are shooting a movie to really work with the actors. You have to learn this craft somewhere else.

As a director, I also get to sit and watch actors and learn from them in a way that I don't get to do when I'm just acting.

Working with Adrien Brody was like going to Julliard, but instead of four years, I went for four weeks. He was like the Albert Einstein of professors, it was just the best experience of my life. Adrien was the most influential mentor in my acting career thus far, and even after the movie he continues to mentor me.

Writing and directing might be a red herring, and really I'm just re-examining what it is to act, to do it well and do it properly.

The best thing an actor can be is flexible, because all directors are different and all actors are different.

Nothing can teach you what it's like to work on a film set, and the best education there can be for an actor is to walk up the street and observe human nature.

I'm an actor. I love to create.

When I was starting out, doing guest spots on TV, and even commercials, I would go in with a whole crazy wardrobe and some terrible accent. Obviously, I was doing too much. If you bring too much flavor to it, it's absurd. There's something to just being spontaneous.

One of the first lessons you learn as an actor is to listen.

Know your lines; otherwise, have an open mind because you want to get lost in the moment. When you have talented actors and directors to work with, then it's pretty easy to do.