Ian Mckellen Quotes

The camera or the microphone in the booth is merciless. If you don't believe what you're saying, it hears it. If you don't believe it, it sees it in your eyes, it hears it in your voice that there isn't the conviction there.

I don't think it's necessary to be an actor to get great performances out of an actor. But I do think it helps me as a director because I know what I like as an actor, and I try to get that to the actors who I'm working with.

When I did 'Jump Street', I created that character; it was all me. I walked in and was just me. I could get out of bed and walk on set and be dressed.

It's not what you see on-screen that makes a performance. It's the things you should never know about - it's the secrets.

Breathing is always key in any character. When you have a character with no voice, that makes it even more important.

What I learned is that acting is to a large extent about trying to stave off self-doubt long enough to be natural and real onstage.

Not all actresses know how to express their looks, I think. For me, it's an on-again, off-again thing. I'm still struggling.

I really think that effective acting has to do literally with the movement of molecules.

They call David O. Russell the actor whisperer because he can get stuff out of actors that maybe some other directors can't.

If the goal is to be believable when you're acting, I've got the best idea of what that believability might look and feel like. And because you need a normal guy in a comedy so that the eccentricities can pop, that's a good part for me.

I found it more challenging to act in a small scene, especially if it has no dialogue and if it is a close-up with only expressions.

When I act, I act with my skin.

For me, actors have to have a character, an aura, body language. They're not models. They used to call actors models. But I want them to participate in the film.

A lot of times, you're not necessarily off the page because you haven't been able to take the time to prepare a character. It's very easy to find even great actors reading it more like a reading. Things aren't really coming alive yet, even though you know they will.

The key is to be a personality outside of the ring and then bring that personality with you inside the ring.

A lot of really good actors are able to go straight from life to their work. They don't treat it as something that's an unattainable, weird thing that they have to aspire to and reach for in a scene.

I feel if I'm playing an athlete, I know I have to prepare. I need to get that body language right, I need to walk like an athlete, look like an athlete. If I'm playing a musician, I need to know how to play an instrument.

If you want to deliver as an actor, you need to know the language. If you don't know what you are mouthing, how will you perform? For me, it is important to know the language.

I started as an actor, then became a theater director. I loved acting but didn't feel as confident as I needed to be, so I started directing theater; then I played in some movies, and then I felt the need to do my own stuff.

I've seen what a difference a good director can make to an actor's performance.

If I have no connection with the character, then it's all fake - it's just blah, blah, blah.

Because it's me playing the character, trying to find a way to make it believable and entertaining and interesting.

As a director and an actor, I encourage improvisation but in character and in the moment of what it is.

For me, the walk of the character is always the first part that I must define for myself.

From an early age, I never let anyone silence my voice. This steadfast attitude has helped me as an actor and has truly enabled me to explore and evolve the characters I portray on television and film.