Anna Friel Quotes

Theatre is for you if you truly want to act and test yourself. There is no room for error as you are performing in front of a live audience.

I specifically remember doing the musical 'Sweet Charity' at Stagedoor. I was playing Vittorio Vidal, which is a very funny part, and some other small roles. I couldn't really sing that well, but there were so many fun bits, and I just remember the tremendous adrenaline rush I felt from being onstage and hearing the audience enjoying it.

There's nowhere to hide in the theatre. You can't be the one in rehearsal who doesn't know their lines.

The next day I was in my school's production of All My Sons. This was the performance where I realized something was happening between me and the audience that I hadn't recognized before.

I'm just a stage actress. I'm very comfortable onstage.

I've always loved acting but never thought I could do theatre because I got the worst stage fright ever.

I discovered that I love being on stage in high school.

With acting, I always feel conscious of what I'm doing.

Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, seeing shows from the wings.

The reason why I hate working in theatre is the tedium of memorisation. But once that is done, then you feast on this never-ending meal. If you play it correctly, every night is fraught with very high stakes that are very difficult to find in everyday life.

Acting is really about having the courage to fail in front of people.

Acting can be very solitary, even if you're in a scene with someone else, because you worry about your own performance and if you look good.

My first live performance was the lead in 'Peter Pan.'

I don't ever recall being nervous before performing because I've already stepped into the shoes and the clothes of the character.

I had always heard that theatre is for 'serious' actors but after actually having rehearsed day in and day out, I realize how challenging it is.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

I still feel I belong to the theatre. There is nothing more challenging and exciting for an actor than performing before a live audience. The stage is the real testing ground for an actor.

I'm a very shy person, and I never tried to do theater. I've been asked many, many times by the most incredible authors in America to do theater. And I always said no, not knowing what it is to be on the stage and to do theater.

It was a wonderful experience to live the life for a year; to spend all day doing Shakespeare and then do a play in the evening.

I need to do more on stage. I've got to get my fix!

I can't imagine anything more debilitating, anything more challenging, anything more thrilling than to get on a stage and do any kind of play. It is such a vulnerable place for any actor to be in.

In school, I was Martha in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' I loved that.

You learn an incredible amount doing theatre, not just about to behave.

People don't know this, but I'm going through a lot every time I walk on stage, which is part of doing theater. That's why it's so addictive, I must say.

With theater, you have to really be able to listen and to respond to other people on stage. You're all constantly on your toes. And then with film and television, you can get a second take and things like that.