Morgan Freeman Quotes

I’m an actor who’s accustomed to bringing a lot of stuff to the table, and you have to be ready because some of them will be accepted and some of them will be rejected. Then you need a generous, free, fearless, loving director like Tarantino to allow you to take those risks.

I don't put big concepts on my work, and it's all often about keeping actors in a room together and not letting them leave.

So the actual riffing came out of us just sitting there and doing it the way I think some people think we really did it, which is all spontaneously, and it really was.

With every project you do, you bring out a part of yourself, and it seems to be quite a good way of expanding a person.

When you have the cast, the sets, the lights, an opera takes on its own life. I'm not one of those directors who marches in with a set of plans.

This amateurism however, can sometimes be helpful in forging a style; you have to work around your weaknesses.

It is important to make your own stuff. Even if you are not an actor, it is important to not stop involving yourself as a creative person.

Theater is a way to keep challenging myself.

Improv training allows you to get out of your head a little bit and take more risks, which is something I would like to continue to improve upon.

To work on great material, what you really end up working on is yourself, your own humanity.

I'm still learning my craft.

Actors are such wonderful creatures and such wonderful instruments. It's always different on the page or in my head. I hear it differently. I see it differently. And then, you give it to an actor, and it comes alive in a way that you didn't expect.

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.

With Fincher, you can take chances and try things. And what happens is that any pretension and preparation you've done, all the square, intellectual work, you can't keep that up for 40 takes. It breaks down, and new things start popping up. This, for me, is the most exciting thing about film-making.

It's really fun when a scene doesn't work.

All actors are self-critical.

The strength of comedy is I don't have to answer to anybody, but sometimes you want to learn from other people and see your ideas strengthen by other people.

The more I learn and grow, the more I feel fulfilled, and even if I'm shooting a commercial for a car or a computer, I try to deliver a filmmaker's point of view where I can learn from the experience. Then I really enjoy it.

Acting-wise, I'm way more comfortable finding out new things about the actor in me and RJ as a person. There's a lot of new nuggets that I can dip in the sauce.

When I look back, there isn't a single film that I would disown because with every film, I've learnt a lot.

My favorite thing as a performing artist is to get a pile of raw material from a writer who says, 'Will you help me make this real?' There's nothing like starting from scratch.

My music-making process is pretty fun and easy.

I never really learnt from anyone. I just spent a lot of time at home, knocking things out. It has been interesting going into proper studios, working with people who know everything. But I find it doesn't hinder me.

I want to get better and take more risks. I need to sing with other people. I need to access parts of me that aren't being accessed in the Cocteau Twins.