Rose Leslie Quotes

Every time a director calls me and says, 'If you practice a lot in two months, can you be an American?' And I always tell them, 'Well, maybe but I'm French. So it's going to be hard to be someone else.'

I can't do an accent unless I'm on the set. I forget how to do it until I'm on the set.

As an English actress constantly playing Americans, you already had to step way out of your box in that way.

I don't aspire to just play things that are like me. Whether the accent is Taiwanese or British or Canadian - that is the very craft in which I was trained. It is my absolute privilege and honor to do that.

Weirdly, when I'm playing an English person, I feel like I've got nothing to hang on to, and it feels a bit strange and exposing.

If I have to pretend to be anything else than French, then I know it's work for me. It's not that it scares me, but it's work. I cannot just pop up on the set and say 'Okay, today I'm Italian!'

I just can't imagine having to do an accent all the time - like, in your whole career.

To portray a real-life character is the toughest job for an actor because one never knows which direction to flow.

In my screen test for 'Hanna,' I sort of pretended I was this sporty person when I really wasn't.

I've played outrageous characters my whole career.

I've played a lot of very posh, sort of noble or aristocratic English people, which is nothing like what I am, so I feel that there is quite a lot distance there and have played a little bit far away from myself.

Actors love mental disorders, dialects, and corsets. Give them one of the three and they're happy.

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

The most fun you can possibly have as an actor is to walk that line between what's real and what's interesting.

As an actor, if you were to simplify what acting really is, it's about letting go.

They did cast me as an ingenue once, and the novelty was nice. But I said, 'There is nothing here to play!' I really like getting into the meat of a role.

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.

As an actor, all you have is what you know and what you see in other people. The more you know, and the more you've experienced, the more you're able to communicate to other people.

I'd played dumbasses a lot. On Mad About You, I played a very dumb waitress and they saw me.

The closer a part is to you, the harder it is to play. Anything else is just imitation. If I'm playing a Russian countess, I get the hat, the accent, the outrageousness. Easy. Playing a murderess? Perfect.

For an actor to have the chance to go and play something that's far away from yourself, physically and also in terms of personality, character, is so much fun.

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

I feel respect is in your hands as an actor when portraying a character, particularly when it's from the Indian subcontinent. I do make a conscious effort to do so and often talk to the directors especially about the heavy accent when it's not needed.

The only two characters I can play convincingly are myself and a dumber and sweeter version of myself.

It's part of my challenge as an actor, not only speaking English but speaking Spanish with a Mexican accent.