John Burnside Quotes

I used to do a lot of repertory theater. You're playing different roles all the time, and I love that.

Standing in public in other people's clothes, pretending to be someone else. It's a strange way for a grown man to make a living.

It's fun to play the character and then watch him later.

Being an actor myself I realize that all actors believe they are qualified to play any role. If you showed me a script with a black woman character I would tell you that I could do it. That is what we do. We act as if we are someone else.

Yeah, I do get to do some theater occasionally. I don't get to do it as much as I would like to.

I was horribly shy all through grade school and high school. But somehow I got up the nerve to audition for one play in high school - 'Auntie Mame.' I got a small part as the fiancee who comes on in the end. I got laughs. I wasn't shy at all doing the part. I can do anything on stage and write it off as a character.

That was the fun of acting, being a blank canvas you could transform into the character - Indian princess, 20s vamp, Mother Courage, Oxford don, 94-year-old wife.

I think the buzz of acting is playing people different to you, and for me, that means traversing all genres.

I've never done an improvised movie as a fictitious character. I think that's the challenge.

That's the great thing about being an actor, you get to try out lots of things for your roles.

I have played a few lay saints in my time.

When you're doing a play that's fully produced, you have the benefit of rehearsing for four or five weeks, so you really get to live in the skin of the character for much longer than when you first start doing a character on TV.

The only time I've played a real baddy was when I was Regan in 'King Lear.'

I love playing odd roles.

My character in 'Hollyoaks' went through absolutely everything! There's not one emotion where I'm going to go, 'I don't know how to play this.'

We did a thing that we would call we call 'hirstories.' H - I - R - S - T - O - R - Y. I would enact a young Mort. And that always felt - it was so funny - it felt more difficult than playing Maura.

There are elements of myself in every character I do, just because you take from your real life experiences and sprinkle those into your character.

'Dogfight' is my favorite thing I've ever worked on. It's such a special piece, and I'm so close to the character of Rose. I loved doing it every night.

Performing was always my thing, so when I act with another co-actor, perhaps that is why I never feel intimidated.

When acting, I can wear another person's clothes and act out the attractiveness of a particular character, which is very interesting for me. Singing is something I love as well.

Sexa as a character was fun to play. My mother couldn't even recognise me in the get-up of an older guy. In fact, it surprised me also. It's easily one of the most special characters I have ever played.

One of my favourite games as a child was to dress up and improvise. Acting seemed obvious.

Because of the pace of daytime, you don't necessarily have time to work every detail of your character, so you have to bring a lot of it yourself.

My favorite thing about acting is that I can play all kinds of different people. Frankly, I don't consider myself a very interesting person, so the characters I play are usually much more fun.

As an actor, particularly because I'm - I would call myself a character actor. I change my look, my physical appearance and my body, my hair color, my whatever all the time for a role.