Lee Jong-suk Quotes

On 'Masters of Sex,' especially in the pilot, everybody was showing up word-perfect, and you're expected to show up word-perfect.

In theater, you go in-depth with your character, so coming to the States, it was inevitable to dig into the pilots I liked. I knew what characters I was going to be reading for, so I would dissect them and really get involved with them.

As an actor, I've always been interested in making sure I can perform the role and the lines in the way the writer intended.

Acting in an epic and a non-fictional film is a big challenge for actors, as they need to research extensively about the characters they are playing before stepping into their shoes.

A role needs a certain tone, so your own tone also changes. It's not like I lock myself up in a room to get into the zone. It is based on what I am feeling, because the minute you try too much, weird things happen. Of course, for an intense role you need some silence, and you need to do a lot of thinking.

So many actors get caught up in their technique, and to be honest, I see it really getting in the way. I see them forcing things. I definitely do my best work when I'm free of that. But I think as an actor, I work really hard in preparing the roles.

I always tend to see, right after reading the script, the character and how I want to play it. I guess that's sort of most of the work, preparing for the role, but almost the creation of the character seems to go on as I read through the script.

What I mostly do is take the script, analyse the hell out of it, see what's in there, see what kind of person I'm dealing with, and then forget I'm playing a father and just play a person who exemplifies all those things.

I have played Dracula a thousand times on stage and I find I have become thoroughly settled in the technique of the stage and not of the screen.

One of my main techniques for acting is I try to know almost nothing beyond the words that I have to say, because that's my zone of control.

I was only interested in my scene, and I had to go through thousands and thousands of other scenes. I got my scene and I read it many, many, many, many, many times. That was my research.

Basically, the way you get into any role is just doing research on the type of character you're playing.

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.

The least amount of info actors get, the better. Actors are always like, 'What is my motivation for this?' You didn't write it. Just say the lines.

A different script calls for different things. It always takes me a long time to get to know the part, and know the logic behind the words. I have to be with the script for quite a long time before things start to fall into place, before they become part of the character.

My background is really being a writer's actor - that seems to be the way I work best, bringing out the best of writing. There's a whole range of acting skills, and some people can be astonishing with very poor material. That's not me; my skill is essentially unlocking the writing.

The trick to acting is not to show off, it's to think the thoughts of the character.

I think that when you first read material or you first read a script or story and know you might be playing a part, it's important not to see yourself because it should be a challenge enough that it doesn't come easy.

There are a lot of visual marks that have to be hit, and lines that need to be said in a right way - so there wasn't really any improvisation on the set when it came to the bulk of the script.

Simply, if you're working with good material, then it's right there, and you don't have to try so hard as an actor; you don't have to do so much. Just let the material sit inside you and let it come out. Just say the words. That was the main thing that I learned from doing Aaron Sorkin's work - say the words, and everything else will happen.

I'm one of those lazy actors; I like to take what the playwright wrote and work with that.

Talking to actors is the same as talking to any other artists; it's getting into the moment for them, and making sure they can lose themselves in the performance!

It's a hard thing to do, to be given a script, and know that you've got to turn up on the first day of the shoot - generally without having had any rehearsal - and present a character. It's really baffling; it's incredibly hard to know how to begin, to approach it, other than just thinking about it.

Having worked with Sarah Paulson on 'American Horror Story: Hotel' and seeing the lengths she goes to when shooting a scene, you go, 'Oh, so that's what this is going to be like.'

I have to do some mental gymnastics as an actor sometimes, to remember not to let certain things in.