Rasika Dugal Quotes

Make acting seem real and as if it weren't acting. Just make it real.

Acting coaches in Hollywood were always telling me to use my hands and body more. But that was never me. I just breathe and sometimes it doesn't look as if I'm doing that.

I tend to play more true-to-life characters in real situations.

I always want to bring emotion across in a straightforward way. I don't want to get histrionic when I'm singing. For me that's just not interesting; it goes too far down one road.

I've always held to the belief, though, that people who do too much acting training always look like they're acting, you know?

I'm not asking actors to act. I'm asking them to behave. I want to see their being, not how they can fake it.

Even when I was on Curb Your Enthusiasm I wasn't this "over-the-top" crazy character. It was still kind of play it straight but it was funny because the situation was funny. That's kind of how I portrayed things and I like dramas; I like to be able to - because in dramas you can laugh and joke and still be serious, be real. I like the realism of them.

The art of acting is not to act. Once you show them more, what you show them, in fact is bad acting.

There is no overacting, only untrue acting.

Our demands are simple, normal, and therefore they are difficult to satisfy. All we ask is that an actor on the stage live in accordance with natural laws.

We're not one thing, as human beings, so any character that is written uni-dimensional, that's just a shallow character with shallow writing and shallow acting.

'Funny People' is my favorite performance of myself to date. Even though it's a comedy and there are serious moments, I really felt like Leo felt like a real person. It didn't feel like I was playing myself. Whether it's a comedy or drama, I just try to make it as realistic as possible.

I like to play these unconventional characters, yes. They're close to the way I feel as a human being.

Opera is full of trappings that make us go away from being human. You can't let them do that. You can't walk like you're in an opera! You have to make it real. You have to just be there.

A worldly actor is a better actor. It sounds pretentious, but I think having these experiences can translate back into your work.

The most important thing in acting is honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

I'm not a big fan of CGI. I'm not a fan at all, unless they use it in a way that doesn't call attention to itself.

Christopher Reeve did such an amazing job that to give him some kind of accent or more bravado would have been wrong. Audiences wouldn't have responded to that either.

I just play him as myself, I don't ease myself into any role really. I stick a beard on and play me.

I think the more the actor lets you know what he thinks of the character, the less the audience cares - like a comedian who laughs at his own jokes.

You have to avoid caricature, at the one end of the spectrum, and sentimentality, at the other; which is not to say that such characters shouldn't be funny part of the time, or that their actions shouldn't evoke genuine feeling.

On stage you need to emphasize every emotion. But on screen you need to tone everything down and make it believable.

It's not subtle or restrained. It's not any of the things you like to think apply to your acting.

With modeling, you pose. You want to look your best all the time. With acting, you have to be aware of the camera, but the more you show your imperfections, the better you're going to be.

Irony is just honesty with the volume cranked up.