Ellen Barkin Quotes

One of the first lessons you learn as an actor is to listen.

As an actor, your life experience is just as important as studying.

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

There's so much to learn as an actor.

I pick up a lot of stuff from them, but I don't think there's any great trick to acting.

One was never taught how to begin at drama school. But all it required was one intake of breath.

It's a funny thing. You sort of never figure it out with acting. You're always learning.

I want to discover more things about acting.

I was lucky enough to get into drama school in London back in 2005, and I was there for three years, and in those three years, we did a lot of theater. A lot of classical training.

I run the Actor's Studio on the West Coast, and one of the things I say all the time to the people I teach - many of whom are acting teachers - is that an actor needs to make choices that make him present.

I love acting classes. I think they're great. It's like working out in the gym. It's a great place to figure out everything that's working and what isn't working.

Your job as an actor is to piece together whatever you've learned in your training, or whatever you have experienced in your life, to piece together a person.

I have learnt to become patient as an actor.

Meisner technique was different than anything I'd ever experienced. It's a really great way to be accountable to your craft and to yourself, but also it takes that kind of focus and dedication to learn anything.

Sometimes I think of movie acting as advanced pretend.

I think every actor should go back and do theater periodically.

Acting is a mysterious process.

I've never tried to learn the art of acting. I have been in the business for years but I still can't tell what acting is or how it's done.

Most of my training at graduate school was geared towards drama, so I feel good about it, and I can do it, but it requires a lot more work from me. I feel like with drama... well, with all acting, really, you need to honor the truth of the situation.

I think one of the mistakes actors make is we're so focused on what we're going to say.

I would be the worst acting coach ever, because I have no idea what I'm doing.

For an actor, if you're not doing a job, you can't just practice acting. Your instrument is your whole person.

Yes, I was actually an acting teacher for a while.

One of the most important things for an actor is to observe humanity.

It's just acting. I take acting seriously but up to a point.