Joaquin Phoenix Quotes

All that acting and all that stuff and emoting and crap will come after you know what you're doing. So when you get - when I get on stage, I don't have to think about it.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

I've always been fairly confident in my acting.

My strength lies in prepping. I'm not someone who can just walk onto the set and perform.

Maybe I can't act, but I know the gimmicks. I studied acting all my life and know what's good for me.

Acting isn't that hard, really. I mean, I think that people make a big deal about it, but you just kind of try to say your lines naturally.

By the time I got to the Fox studio for my first major film, I knew how to hit a mark. I knew how to memorize lines. I knew how to pay attention.

There's nowhere to hide in the theatre. You can't be the one in rehearsal who doesn't know their lines.

What's interesting about the process of acting is how often you don't know what you're doing.

All the things you can do to prepare for a role that free you, in the moment, are great. You have this muscle memory for things. You don't have to act it as much, once you've done it enough.

I just arrive, they hand me a script and say, do it.

It's hard enough to just be a good actor. When you're on set, there's everything going against you. There are walkie talkies going off, the camera is creaking and moving, there are boom mics, and you have to hit your mark and make sure you don't shadow the other person's face. It's a really technical process.

On the whole, actors shout when they don't know what they're doing, trying to make an impact.

Acting itself is quite scary. Some people say that actors are show-offs, very egotistical and all that kind of stuff, but it is quite scary.

I don't think I would be a good actor! People enjoyed 'Dancing With the Stars' because I was myself, and every time they told me to say something, I would say my own words, so I don't think I could follow a script well!

I've found acting on stage much more challenging than on screen.

Acting is just common sense. It isn't hard if you put yourself aside and just do what the writer wrote.

I think if actors don't think of themselves as funny in real life they think they can't do comedy.

I don't think I'm sharp enough to not prepare and come on set and kill it.

When you prepare for something, you can then play around; you're not as worried about remembering your lines because you already know them so well. That's where you can find the freedom. So I'm all about prep work.

I'm not a very good actor.

Stevie Van Zandt could not walk on to a set and act. I don't know how actors do that! It's the scariest thing in the world.

Acting can be very solitary, even if you're in a scene with someone else, because you worry about your own performance and if you look good.

I never don't know my lines. I never take the audition pages into the room. I end up relying on them or looking at them too much, and it makes me feel unprepared, so I always learn my lines without fail.

Eventually, you know the rhythm of your character, of the set of the piece. It takes less energy for you to hit that point, and then everything resonates. But initially, it takes a tremendous amount of energy. You just hope it's gonna be okay and you don't forget your lines and those cameras.