David Schwimmer Quotes

The wonderful thing about drama school is that it stretches you in a way the industry doesn't.

I've had probably way too many acting classes, and you try to sort of shed - I think over a period of time, you'll shed what doesn't stick with you, and you'll hang onto those things that do.

If you only live in the world of the actor, and if you only live in the world of auditions, etc., then you don't really have a whole lot to offer when it comes to playing the humans that you're trying to audition for.

I know what my limitations are as an actor, but my strength is putting myself into a well-written part. When I get in trouble is when I have to fix it, or when I have to carry it on personality.

From an acting standpoint, when I was a kid, I thought I knew everything there was to know. As the years go by, this craft becomes more intensive as I get older. You realize how much more there is to know and to learn, and how much better you can get, if you really work at it.

I did 10 years on 'Sopranos,' but the whole craft of acting is relatively new to me. I'm still learning that, and I'll be learning that forever.

Because I didn't go to drama school, I didn't start in the business with any toolbox apart from enthusiasm and instinct. I'd throw everything at a part and sometimes realise that I had hit my limits.

I took acting lessons when I was 19, 20, and I had my writing.

Film acting is really the trick of doing moments. You rarely do a take that lasts more than 20 seconds. You really earn your spurs acting onstage. I needed to do that for myself. I would hate to say at the end of everything that I never did a stage play.

Because I came out as a singer, I took the time to get an acting coach.

As an actor, the training I received was that I walk through the world as an observer of life and of people. My job is to actually be looking out all the time and watching people.

I think acting can be very frustrating, and there's no experience that doesn't make you a better actor.

You see people in different situations behaving in very different ways. That can only benefit you as an actor.

I think the education I've had as an actor I would never have had at university.

I think every role you do prepares you for the next one. Of course, 'Nashville' has been, and will continue to be, a huge learning experience for me as an actor. It's something that I grew a lot doing.

As an actor sometimes you can be a bit emotional and forceful, and that's not always the way to be.

And at NYU, I went to the Atlantic Theater Company, and they have two main points. One of them is to always be active in something instead of just feeling it. And the other is figuring out your character.

My first acting lessons were Shakespeare. The first time I ever started working with a coach was doing scenes from 'Measure for Measure,' which were tough dramatic scenes. And then 'Taming of the Shrew,' which required comedic timing. And that's the kind of stuff I love.

I've not taken like acting lessons or anything but it doesn't mean I don't need to because I'm sure I do.

Only a great actor finds the difficulties of the actor's art infinite.

I look for things that are going to challenge me as an actor.

I've grown tremendously as an actor by being there. It is comic writing the likes of which I don't know that I'll ever see again and it's been a great, great experience.

For me, one of the most important things I look for in an actor is whether we can converse. Do we have a similar ability to discuss a character?

Even though I was theatrically trained, learning to develop a character was an awesome experience.

My acting coach makes the impossible accessible.