Martin Short Quotes

I sort of consider myself a comedic actress, not a comedienne. I think it's different. You know, I'm not a stand-up or anything, but playing into comedic situations is sort of where, I think, my strength lies.

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.

They were looking for actors - real actors - who could play instruments. There was a lot of improvisation and scene work involved in addition to the music. The auditions went on for a long time.

In Miami, I was studying improv as well as acting. Improv is a great tool to have, just for the comedic timing that you get. When I moved to L.A., I started taking classes with The Groundlings, and I loved it. I'm definitely in love with improv and comedy.

Every movie I do, or when I'm on the sketch comedy show, I don't really get into it until I have an outfit or something funny with my head or face or something.

I've been interested in the writing/directing thing and really fell into acting by complete accident.

I was very serene, and I still am, until I start talking in another voice, then suddenly I have a lot of volume and I'm frantic. But I didn't want to be one of those people who's always talking in accents in real life, so I started doing sketch comedy.

Everyone forgets comedians are actors. There's no question about it. A Robin Williams cannot say the same line every night for 40 weeks and make it sound fresh unless he's doing an acting job.

I like to play different types roles, but I'd like to do a comedy next.

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

I took my pants off in my 'SNL' audition. It was to do a character called Out of Breath Jogger from 1982. I had short shorts on underneath. It eventually aired, so it was worth it!

That's what's so great, I get to play any character in the world. And I think that's one of the things that makes doing 'Comedy Bang Bang' or other improv podcasts so fun, as well as my own, is that you can really explore a character deeply for a long period of time that is nothing like yourself.

I love attempting to play real people. I like to try and have dramatic moments as well as comedic moments, and my favorite thing is when those two lines are blurred.

Actors are real. It's a real skill, and it exists, and talent really exists.

As a kid I would watch 'SCTV,' 'Saturday Night Live,' 'Monty Python' and 'The Kids in the Hall,' and be amazed that these guys got to be different people every week. It spoke to the acting side in me.

There is nothing like a 'born actor.' It's all about honing the skills.

In sketch comedy, wear your character like a hat, not a suit of armor.

I was always a performer even as a child; I loved delving into various characters.

Acting is a very weird job. But if you know you're an actor, you just have to do it. You can't do anything else.

I absolutely loved improv! I felt very much at home being onstage. It freed me to be all sorts of people other than myself. It was an escape from myself, if you will. I still love that creative freedom of improv and making people laugh.

I believe an actor should be shameless.

You can reveal yourself on stage in a way that you can't on TV. If you drop a character on TV, it's death. Each character has to be ruthlessly, faultlessly played. But live, you can hint at what's going on behind. You can let the audience in a bit and go off the script.

I've always been an actor, even when I was doing improv and my own version of stand up.

It is the same actor in theatre and cinema, just the technique of acting changes.

Acting is learnt, not taught.