Elizabeth McGovern Quotes

In England, when we're at drama school, we spend a lot of time learning the craft from playwrights and stage actors, who are very well trained in the basics of acting because they need to get it right the first time - you can't have second or third takes when you're in front of a live audience, unlike in film.

I have always felt that acting in a film is very challenging in itself. But when it comes to performing live, I think that is more challenging.

I was a repertory actor, which meant that I did a play every week. I was a different character every week; for a year, I was doing 40 or 50 characters.

I think if you're an actor, then you can work on stage - but if you've never done it before, you're going to have picked up a few things that you're going to need to change when you're working on stage.

Stage is the ultimate test; I like watching established screen actors on stage to see if they can really do it. But it's great to have a healthy mixture of the two. Film is so technical: there's something very particular about the relationship between you and the camera. It took a long time for me to get good on film.

Being actors is a strange job.

I'd always dabbled in acting.

You learn to act by acting. You only get so much from acting class. You have to put your act on stage.

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.

I never prepare. I think that's completely overrated. It's a very simple job. All you have to do is hit this bright mark, stand in the right spot and say the line. So I don't really believe in preparation.

Film acting is really the trick of doing moments. You rarely do a take that lasts more than 20 seconds. You really earn your spurs acting onstage. I needed to do that for myself. I would hate to say at the end of everything that I never did a stage play.

Nobody is a perfect actor.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

I just arrive, they hand me a script and say, do it.

Basically, the actor's job is to pay attention to the script.

I think the wonderful thing about doing theater is that it's more of an actor's medium. I think that film is more of a director's medium. You can't edit something out on stage. It's there.

Here's what I knew about doing a play: I knew it would make me a better actor.

I have been taking classes and I'm familiar with stage, but I'm not as familiar with acting on camera.

I've been acting for a while, but theater is pretty different. I've never been in a play.

The rehearsal is where it all happens for an actor.

I prefer stage work, as an actor.

I think that sometimes in theater, I don't prepare much beyond going to the rehearsals.

Acting is something I did when I was a kid. I do act sometimes in friends' projects, but when I do, it's just for fun. It is actually a hobby for me now. I do still love stage acting, but the day-to-day process of being an actor is so exhausting and so taxing.

It's a really good format to have, to go back to theatre and build yourself as an actor. I think it's a great skill to go from screen to stage.

The single most important thing in learning my craft was being on the stage.