Stephen Root Quotes

I love acting and really taking on another person, another life.

You have to be smart to play a dumb blonde over and over again and keep the audience's attention without extraordinary physical equipment.

They sent me the script, asking me to play the part of a general. I have never played the part of an authority figure. I've never thought of myself that way. I was uncomfortable with it, but I worked at it and knew I had a guttural voice for a general.

Actors act... Their job is to become this character. And I have, in fact, seen Sam Heughan become Jamie and Caitriona Balfe become Claire right before my eyes. It was an astonishing transformation.

I've played several real characters, and I've always found it very difficult because you don't want to do an impersonation.

Playing a real-life character is a challenge and a huge responsibility.

Acting is the ability to dream on cue.

To play different characters on a TV show where you're working every day, playing multiple characters every day, it's so ridiculously intense.

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.

Creating a character and living truthfully through her is a whole different ball game. It's all part of the same person but it's a much newer medium for me.

Being an actor myself I realize that all actors believe they are qualified to play any role. If you showed me a script with a black woman character I would tell you that I could do it. That is what we do. We act as if we are someone else.

As an actor, you always want to keep it different, change it up, and, you know, just to keep yourself inspired and work with interesting characters.

Sometimes I think of movie acting as advanced pretend.

That's what acting is. You're pretending to be someone else.

Everything, I think, about acting is based on imagination.

I think the buzz of acting is playing people different to you, and for me, that means traversing all genres.

In a drama, you don't make a fool of yourself.

I always enjoy impersonating my characters in the first-person singular.

Preparation is definitely important, but it depends on the kinds of roles I do. Like, I completely identify with my character in 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.' I had to be myself and I didn't have to actually prepare for it.

I think the challenge for an actor is always to see which parts of you you can explore and go have fun with.

When I do film, I really take on roles and I take on characters.

I'm so into playing different characters, even when I was on Nickelodeon. I just observe.

The art of acting is to be other than what you are.

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

As actors, you play people who are not yourselves!