Lin Shaye Quotes

One of my favorite parts of being an actress is being a detective.

I think that different actors go about their preparation differently, but when it comes to acting, I use my imagination.

I love an acting challenge, and I love getting to sit down with my script and do all my drama work.

As an actress, it appeals to me because I love the idea of playing those in-between moments, the sort of behavioral stuff that one might not normally see.

I don't really prepare for roles. I just kind of do them!

When you drop your guard in films, the acting process compensates. You get lazy and you start acting.

When I do film, I really take on roles and I take on characters.

In acting, you have to pull from real-life situations, from people, to help develop a character.

I've learned by watching films that inspired me and people who inspired me like Robert Redford and Paul Newman. I love old school acting. I love subtlety, and I also love being spontaneous, and that's really what works for me.

I don't really give much thought to the roles that I'd ideally love to play.

I really take acting seriously.

I think people are always trying to demystify whatever acting is, so they want to know what your method is.

I'm always practicing lines, researching, trying to be fresh, and fully trying to become the characters I play. That's how I roll.

A lot of actors and actresses pull from past experiences.

For my money, when you're doing an on-camera performance, unless it's for something particularly stylised, you are, by and large, striving for naturalism.

When you get to set, you don't try to play the plot; you just play the character.

I've always approached acting from a very workmanlike perspective.

When you go into the realm of a double role, you have to take it to another level to make it believable.

As an actor, I'm more interested in characters the longer I have lived with them.

Working on a particular look doesn't make you a serious actor.

I'm taking my time with the acting and learning as I go.

I never went to stage school or anything like that. It was always plays, productions at school and things like that. The thing for me with acting was it was the only thing I could fully concentrate on. I loved playing sports. I didn't really love studying.

I love the art of acting, so I don't care if I'm in a movie with 10 people, two people, or by myself. I just really enjoy it.

I personally take cues directly from the script, then I like to surprise the other actors. But you must maintain control on a level and see how far you can go up, down or out emotionally. You have to balance the craft with spontaneity.

I'm the sort of actor who likes to talk about what we're going to do.