Rob Reiner Quotes

Many times I'll improvise it, which isn't done a lot in movies or commercials. But a lot of my commercials are improvised.

Although there was a screenplay, the actors never knew what questions I was going to ask them, and all of my character's voice-over narration and scenes were added after the fact.

When I do a take, I very often try things that I haven't planned to try to see if I can pull it off.

I don't worry too much about the script, I just ad lib, like Pearl Bailey.

I didn't want to be stuck in Dickens period dramas because then I would never know if I was any good.

We actually use a lot of improvisation on 'Transparent.'

As for doing more dramatic work over comedy, I do whatever turns me on at the moment.

Most of the time I'm thinking, I'm glad that scene was improvised.

Sometimes you don't want to get married too much to a lot of rehearsing, I feel, when it comes to film, because there's so many technicalities. So if I'm in my head, I've gotten settled on something, I'm gonna have to change it if I get there and something was set that's completely different.

You know. I'll try anything. I'll do anything. I'll explore. Try different takes. All that kind of stuff to do sometimes, to do good performances, but always conducive to having a good time creatively.

When I rehearse, it ends up doing more harm than good. I think I work a little bit better when it's right off the bat. Mostly, I try to wrap my head around a role as much as I can without rehearsing and then kind of make it as fresh as possible on the day.

People used to think we just faked all that stuff... it was all written, rehearsed. The fact that it looks as cobbled together as it does is just that we weren't very good.

I'm a performer. I push the envelope, I work in a very uncontrolled manner onstage. I do a lot of free association, it's spontaneous, I go into character.

Sometimes the character will go into a completely different direction than I expected once the cameras start rolling. That's what I love about what I do.

I love being the character actor. I get to stretch my muscles a little more.

As an actor, you know there are things you get asked to do that you do quite well, with less effort.

My natural inclination to be improv rather than an educated character serves me well.

I can't ad-lib, or not for long.

The first feature film I did, when I did 'Night Shift,' I improvised quite a bit because I would improvise at the audition, so sometimes I would return to the original lines, and then when I was on set, I would improvise even more.

I respond in the moment which is what makes me a good actor.

I have learned a lot from jazz. I compare good acting to jazz music. The more you study and prepare as an actor, the more equipped you are to live in the moment. Just like the gifted musicians in my dad's quartet, it takes a courageous actor to be free.

I prefer doing TV, where it can be different every time.

I don't like to rehearse, and the film-makers that I have been drawn to are interested in provoking something between people rather than nailing a scene in advance.

I don't like to know exactly what I'm going to do in a scene, because the most interesting moments as an audience member are moments of truthful spontaneity.

As an actor, I go with the flow.