Jay Hernandez Quotes

In my career, there have been three things that were challenging: playing gay; playing a Jewish woman; and playing Chekhov. The scariest part was playing Chekhov!

I was worried for a while that it was some sort of reflection of me that all I seemed to be getting were these characters that were a tad bit loony. But I love it. Those are the most fun characters to play!

There's nothing worse - I don't like listening to actors talk about the process, especially when - I mean, for me I've played a lot of guys, dudes, boys in a sense and this was a challenge for me just to play that official character.

I've had some rank auditions where I embarrassed myself to new heights, which is hard for me to do. I was never good at auditioning. There are a number of actors over the years come up the ranks who are horrific at auditioning.

There is always pressure playing a real living person and even pressure developing a character from scratch.

I can't act, and so I have to live that particular character in my real life and then exhibit it on screen.

My character in 'Hollyoaks' went through absolutely everything! There's not one emotion where I'm going to go, 'I don't know how to play this.'

Stevie Van Zandt could not walk on to a set and act. I don't know how actors do that! It's the scariest thing in the world.

I'm a terrible actor. I'm still learning. When I first started, I wish I knew then to trust myself more, really. I was in a terrible panic in the early part of my career.

I don't prepare myself for any character unless it is really different.

As an actor, it's really exciting and challenging to play a character which is much older than your actual age.

Doing 'Mamma Mia' was scary full stop, so playing a young Colin Firth was even more intimidating. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was playing Harry and not Colin Firth, which psychologically felt better.

That was the hardest thing for me. When it was published that I was going to play Tommen, all the fans of the books were like, 'Oh, he's turning 16' - that was the hardest thing: to play younger and show that.

[ Angel series] really taught me that acting is not just about being emotionally challenged. It's about being physically challenged. And I enjoyed both aspects of that.

When you do action stuff and sci-fi stuff, you have a lot to hide behind - the hair and the makeup and the special effects. But when you play a normal girl, it's challenging because you have to trust yourself.

I want to attack and to lead my life with vigor, but I'm in the watching stage at the moment. Younger actors feel pressure to bring a pop to every scene; as the roles get bigger, I'm finding you can add layers and do less scene-to-scene.

I have fun doing lighter roles, as I don't have to do anything against my emotions.

One of the things I love about acting is that there is always scope for growth.

'Freaky Ali' may look like an easy role to others, but it is not easy.

When I'm acting, there are moments where I'm thinking, 'I sound like my mom when I say that,' or, 'I sound like my dad when I say that.'

You'd think that my acting in 'Lost Angels' would have been the reason why I gave up on it. But yeah, I'm just not that good at it. Auditioning is super weird, and I'm bad at it.

As you go through your career you learn what works for you and what doesn't and you pick things up with experience.

I get to play some zany, multilayered, very complex individuals.

Not once in my life have I done theatre. Being on stage is not my thing.

If you're going to be a professional you continue to grow.