Oliver Jackson-Cohen Quotes

In my first film, I was a basketball player. Like every good actor, I lied when they asked me if I could play.

I'm actually from Mt. Kisco, New York, which is in Westchester County, and when I auditioned for 'Dukes,' I told them I was from Snailville, Georgia, which doesn't exist, and I'd just graduated first in my class from the Georgia School of High Performance Driving, which also doesn't exist. But they bought it.

The thing about being an actor is that every new job is a new challenge. Sometimes you'll have a shot, and it doesn't work. Sometimes it'll work better than you expected.

In my screen test for 'Hanna,' I sort of pretended I was this sporty person when I really wasn't.

It's an acting job - acting natural.

I don't like improvising on camera, particularly, but very often, a scene will not be working, and you rehearse it once or twice, and you realize something's missing. So I'll play with it until it makes sense.

With acting, I've always gotten by in life acting in situations. I'm a small person. I didn't have a chance to be a bully. But I could always act myself out of tough situations.

The first time I was flown to L.A. for a screen test was an incredibly nerve-racking experience.

I have been acting since I was thirteen.

I'm an actor, but I am an awful liar.

People know my background and for people who need an improviser, I'm one of the people they think to use if I'm appropriate for the part.

Acting is like lying. The art of lying well. I'm paid to tell elaborate lies.

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

A lot of times you come against actors who come from a different direction, and you tend to meet in the middle.

It was a fantastic learning experience and OK, I got slammed because I wasn't Audrey Hepburn but you could have predicted that, really, if you'd opened your eyes wide enough.

To be in front of an audience and pretending, and to lie, this is the principle of acting.

Early on, someone had told me, 'You know, the camera can always tell when you're lying.' And, Jesus, that intimidated me. 'The camera can always tell? How am I going to do this?' Until one day I thought, 'Wait a minute, acting is lying. Acting is all about lying.'

As an actor, you have to have your history.

As an actor, you want to know if you're keeping a secret or telling the truth.

I played a wide variety of roles.

The truth is, you don't ever decide on a role, not when you first begin. You audition for the role, and you're lucky to get it.

I think all actors are professional liars.

Acting takes courage.

Acting is technically just lying, so I guess I've been acting since I was about 7.

Acting is even stranger than I thought it would be.