John Ford Quotes

An actor is someone who pretends to be somebody else. A movie star is somebody who pretends that somebody else is them.

You have to like the characters you play.

The thing about being an actor is that you're acting. It's not that big of a deal of to play someone different from yourself.

It's fun to play the character and then watch him later.

I play a character every day of my life, and I don't want to play a character as myself. They can judge me as an actress, not as a person. I'm not a spokeswoman for Anna.

I don't think I'm like any of the characters I've played - they're all really far from who I am.

Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls. The key is always to speak in your own voice. Speak the truth. That's Acting 101. Then you start putting layers on top of that.

I'd play the same character for ten years if the words and the moments that I'm playing are authentic.

If you're saying the same line 10 times and making it look like you just came up with it, that's acting.

The best advice my dad ever gave me is that acting is believing. Acting is not acting. It isn't putting on a face and dancing around in a mask. It's believing that you are that character and playing him as if it were a normal day in the life of that character.

It's hard to actually take details from your personal life and apply them a scene because, as much as you can identify with a feeling, you just get muddled. As soon as you start bringing your own stuff in, it's like, 'No, that's not right.' You're playing a different person. You can relate, but you have to leave that stuff at the door.

With modelling, you provide an image that is fake; with acting you have to provide an image that's real.

What I love to do requires portraying different characters, and you have to separate your life from the role.

In acting, you have to pull from real-life situations, from people, to help develop a character.

Acting is trying to be absolutely truthful; to get audiences to believe that you are a dean, when, actually, not only are you not the dean, but if you walked into the building they'd probably throw you out. That's very hard.

I've played a lot of really smarmy people in film, and it can be real fun, don't get me wrong. But it can be characters I'm not as excited to explore.

Acting is way of making yourself exist.

I think being a character actor is exciting in that it allows you to embody completely different things, whether it's through wild accents or a crazy bad guy or a drunken good guy.

I guess every actor has certain emotions they can access easier than others.

You've got to internalize the character. You've got to learn the words. These are separate things, but they work together.

Acting is a very important thing for me, and I love doing it. But when I'm acting, I spend 14 hours a day and months a time being someone else. When I'm singing, I just get to be me.

Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls. The key is always to speak in your own voice. Speak the truth. That's Acting 101. Then you start putting layers on top of that.

I always say, 'I'm not a pirate, I just play one on TV.'

I think it's so important when you're playing a character that you can't judge the person you're playing at all. It's a judgment-free zone. You have to just go for it.

There is a horrible misconception that you can either act or not. But experience is everything.