Bill Murray Quotes

The best sketch shows are from a group of tight-knit people who've worked together for a really long time.

The Second City

I thought of Second City as just the greatest therapeutic job anybody could ever dream of having.

It's just a lovely way to do comedy, where you have the freedom to try stuff, but then you also have a really strong, solid script to go back to if you're brain dead and tired.

If acting with other people is in your plans, then you need to learn how to work with other people to build a comedic premise.

There is only so much you can do if you're pulling weight and there's nobody there to play off of. You can't have those beautiful moments with new actors who are so worried about everything else but the moment.

I came from the Groundlings Theatre in L.A., and there, you're guaranteed to at least try something out in front of an audience. At 'SNL,' only the best stuff gets picked, and it's taught me a very defined language of comedy. You learn the structure of a joke, which is not something I was very good at beforehand.

I was at Second City L.A., going through the conservatory, and I graduated in 2004 and I got 'SNL' in 2005.

To be able to work with actors who are doing such good work, not only makes it easier for you, but it makes you better.

What I say about actors is you always want to find an actor you can play ball with. You throw the ball at them and you want them to throw it back. Your ball playing is a lot better when you play with good ballplayers, like any sport. Every actor I know feels the same way.

To me, acting is like tennis. You're only as good as the person you're playing with, so if you're playing with Michael C. Hall, what do you have to worry about?

I don't think I'm sharp enough to not prepare and come on set and kill it.

My method is much like choreography. I don't sit at a table. I work in a room with people.

With acting, there's a certain amount of independence you have within the framework of the storytelling. When it's done well, it's a collaborative medium.

Everybody does their homework, and we all come together and just knock it out. There are adjustments to make, and if you have actors who are collaborators and who really know how to listen and be in the scene together, than it works out beautifully.

I have been lucky enough to work in all kinds of comedy. I prefer working with other people. I could never do stand-up.

I came up through Second City, so I'm used to playing 20 characters every night who are very different from each other. I wouldn't want my career to be any different.

As I get more confident as a filmmaker, I don't need to prepare so much in advance. I can trust that I and my team can come up with a solution.

Comedy is difficult for an actor. But I think I have a good sense of humor and manage to make people laugh and make them happy.

To do a comedy team, it requires so much extracurricular stuff, so much compromise, so much intuitiveness to know what the other guy is doing. That's why it's so hard to do it.

It's the most amazing cast, a dream cast. We laugh all the time.

When I do the roles, when I'm in the room and auditioning, I'll ask the director if they're cool with me adding stuff, or just improvising while we're doing it. And I would say, like, 90 percent of the time, they say, 'Absolutely.'

Good actors are a dime a dozen, but I want actors that are gonna be part of my team and collaborative.

I enjoy making films, but my heart is in the stage. Every night you have to be on. There's no second take.

I always loved acting and improv and sketch comedy and theater, which I did at a local youth theater.