Laura Carmichael Quotes

I was blown away watching Michael Keaton act because he was such a maniacal, evil person on set. He takes on a totally different life, and it was so amazing to watch him work.

As long as you have the acting chops and the desire to get inside a character, you can play anything.

To me, there are things you're good at and things you're not so good at. For some reason, I'm good at darker characters. It has to do with how you look.

Brad Pitt seems to have no problem getting parts that he wants, nor does Angelina Jolie. Not that I'm saying I look like either of them, but I just don't think that it has anything to do with that. It's the emotions or characters you are able to take on that will get you work, not necessarily the way you look. Obviously, beauty can open doors - it is Hollywood, after all - but that's not enough.

The character requires so many elements. The only one who could fulfill that was this one person: Elle Fanning.

One sign of a great actor is when he can be alone by himself on the screen, doing almost nothing, and producing one of a film's defining moments.

Listen, I like great actors. You can be a movie star without being a great actor - this has been proved several times - and I like my casts to have great actors. Acting is more important to me than being a star.

I'm a character actor and I get lost in these characters, so I think it's only recently that people have begun to connect dots and go, 'Oh, that's the same person that did this, this, this, this and this!' which I take as a compliment. One time somebody called me an illusionist, and that was the nicest thing anyone has ever said.

Still, on 'Friends', we had some guest-stars who were less than spectacular, not the stunt-casting, but just regular guest-stars, and they weren't particularly great actors, but the material was so good that they scored. It's the writing.

I do think that good actors can do any part. It doesn't mean that they are the best ones to do it.

Good actors, you always know what they're thinking. That's why they're good actors.

I never pretended to be a great actor.

It's true I have a hard time with the notion of creating a character. And I feel it's a limit. I'm always really impressed by actors who are able to construct a character, like Johnny Depp.

I think the only thing I've got going for me as an actor specifically is the fact that I can change.

In every character that you play... I mean, I don't think I'll ever be the type of actor or performer per se who transforms, you know? Like Claire Danes transforms into Temple Grandin - I'm not gonna do that.

I really believe great actors, even with disease and age, can be great.

When you're doing lots and lots of episodes and you're playing the same character, it's great because you really get to know the character and it becomes a really fast style and you find subtleties in it.

People are confusing me with a good actor when I'm just a good mimic. When someone asks me to play a nun from the fifteenth century, you'll see what I mean.

I love watching Edie Falco; she's so layered, and her work is so great.

Any good actor is a character actor.

My dream role would be someone anything that Meryl Streep can do. 'Julia and Julia' - I thought that was beautiful. She just had the essence of her. To truly become someone, invoking emotions like happiness and sadness and everything in between, that's what I want to be able to do.

My background is really being a writer's actor - that seems to be the way I work best, bringing out the best of writing. There's a whole range of acting skills, and some people can be astonishing with very poor material. That's not me; my skill is essentially unlocking the writing.

I think, at the end of the day, if you're a good actor, then you're a good actor.

Young girls of 13 or 12 are great actors.

Britain produces great actors because they learn on stage so know their stuff when they get on a movie set.