Rich Sommer Quotes

I like to do theater and hopefully be effective. Most actors, at least contemporary actors of my generation, can't do it. They don't have the chops.

The armoury of having any academic education does not necessarily set you up for being a good or better actor.

I started off on stage because it was the only work I could get. I haven't been back for 11 years. I think any stage experience is good experience, as far as being an actor is concerned.

I never went to acting school, so improv was my training. Just being quick on your feet helps in everyday life.

There's no doubt that I owe a lot to my training of stage acting.

There are certain actors who are very good at improvising, like Dustin Hoffman and Glenda Jackson.

I think to be a good actor you need either a good experience of life or education, or both.

I studied acting at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh because I figured a good comedian certainly could act.

The young actors coming out of the Universities are well trained.

There are two jobs. There is being an actor, and there is being a celebrity. Some people are really good at both. Some people are really good celebrities and terrible actors, and some people are really good actors and terrible celebrities. Hopefully, I am a really good actor and an OK celebrity.

Watching a good actor is the best way to learn.

In order to be a good actor, I'm a firm believer that you need to bring something to the table.

I never had any classes or went to theatre school like a lot of actors, so all of my training has been on stage with different directors. That was a pretty good school room.

My acting chops are awful.

I'm not one of these actors who can make a bad script good. Some actors, a script can be terrible, and they can bring something to it and make it really special. I can't.

When I went to acting school, the kids that got the best grades were the kids that could cry on cue. But it didn't really translate into careers for any of them, because the external is the easy part.

If you got a good imagination, a lot of confidence and you kind of know what you are saying, then you might be able to do it. I know a lot of colorful characters at home that would make great actors.

The foundation for film acting is stage acting.

To be a great actor, you really don't need to go to acting school or learn dance classes or work on your body. You have to be intelligent. You have to draw on a lot of emotions that you go through in life that you can tap into once you work on a set.

When you work with actors, what you're hoping to absorb is good ways to be an actor as opposed to how to handle being famous.

To be a good actor, you have to be very smart. But to be a great actor, you also have to have a streak of, 'I'm an idiot, a complete lunatic.'

I know how to have a conversation, but I've never done improv. I've never taken improv classes.

I think if you're an actor, then you can work on stage - but if you've never done it before, you're going to have picked up a few things that you're going to need to change when you're working on stage.

To me, if people really want to improvise, get into classes and learn.

I knew absolutely nothing about acting, and had to be taught everything. Some people are born naturals and know how to walk, talk and hold themselves. I didn't and had to learn everything.