Janet Suzman Quotes

I never judge the characters I'm asked to play, and I don't need to feel that they are a part of me.

You can't really judge characters, because that's when it gets really hard to play them.

My job always is to play a person, not to judge her.

When I act, a part of me goes into the character I am playing.

So you can't judge the character you're playing ever.

You try not to judge the characters you're playing.

One of the first things I was taught as an actor was, 'Don't judge the character.'

Any decent actor knows you can't judge the character you're playing.

I don't know how to play a character unless I love him.

Something they taught us at drama school, and it's taken me a long time to realise it's true through practice, is that you can't put judgments on a character you're playing, especially while you're doing it.

I do enter into character on set, but I can step out of it.

I don't bring my life into a character at all.

I am a professional actor, and I don't go about moralizing about what the character does. Otherwise, seriously, why be an actor? You're not making some kind of social statement. That's not what actors do.

When I was acting, I got trained in creating a character as a three-dimensional person. If you're doing it right you should be able to draw an audience into the character's world and make them feel their fears.

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

I never personalize anything because I think that can be dangerous. For me, the best way is - this may sound pretentious - but it's to breathe the character and get into the psychology of it.

It's absolutely true that it's almost impossible to play a character without having any affection for him.

One of the great things that you should never do that I learned from John Malkovich is to never judge your characters.

A really useful quality to have as an actor is a lack of self-awareness. I try and get into the character's thinking, and some of them just aren't really that bothered about how they come across or aware of how they come across.

You have to be completely in the character, and that's so hard to do. That's why, when they call, 'Cut!,' you often feel yourself shift. Unless you're Daniel Day Lewis, who stays in character all the time, there's a switch that happens.

I immerse myself right into my character whether or not I'm relating to people live as an actor on stage or whatever.

As an actor, the first thing you learn in drama school is you never judge.

You have to play your characters, not like them.

I'm a task-oriented actor. A pretender. And I try to invent my process anew each time I make a new project. So I frown on any method.

I don't even draw on my life experiences when I'm acting. I just try and make it feel like I'm living through that person's skin.