Rob McClure Quotes

Real-life people are often the hardest to play, people that you recreate who have actually lived, because you have to live up to people's knowledge of those characters.

'On the Road' is another one of those, a film in which the audience has a very clear idea of who they think your character is, so you know you are asking for it. But that's the challenge.

If you're playing the a historical character that's in the public consciousness, then obviously you've got to make an effort to look like that person and there's a huge amount of historical record there that you have to kind of comply to.

When you're playing someone who really lived, you carry a burden, a burden to be accurate.

I've learned a lot about the limits of what I can do, as an artist, or what I'm willing to do. It's a lot of responsibility to carry a show and to speak to people on different levels.

I like watching 'The X Factor,' but I would never go on it - I think it's too much of a controlled thing.

When you're playing someone who really lived, you carry a burden, a burden to be accurate. But it's one that you have to let go of ultimately.

How little the public realizes what a girl must go through before she finally appears before the spotlight that is thrown upon the stage.

I've done a lot of stage in my life, but I never had to dominate a stage for three hours.

When you have to get into the character each morning, give it your voice, your face, it was torture.

An artist cannot be responsible for what people make of their art. An audience loathe giving up preconceived images of an artist.

I find historical figures in general very tricky because you feel at times that you're serving two masters. Not only the arc and wonderful writing that comes with the show, but also the history of a person's life.

There's a certain amount of pressure that comes from playing real people. It's a pressure to deliver something fair and right to the real person and any living relatives. But generally, it's a joy, as you get to target your interest on a particular era.

When you screw up in the ring, it's so embarrassing. But the fans don't know you screwed up unless you act like you just made a mistake.

From the first time you can look in the paper and you accept that you're the entertainment for some people that night, it becomes so much more enjoyable to play live.

I'm not one of those people who can cry on cue. If I have to cry in an audition, I'm like, 'Okay, let me see what I can do.'

You're playing a character in a drama who happens to be based on someone who existed. It's never going to 'be' that person, but it's based on someone well-known, and you want to create enough of that person for it not to be a distraction.

I think that when you first read material or you first read a script or story and know you might be playing a part, it's important not to see yourself because it should be a challenge enough that it doesn't come easy.

I don't mind the audience identifying me with Red.

When I'm up there, and I know the show's coming to a close, in my head I'm saying to myself, Oh man, you gotta get off and be a normal person again. That's what I don't like so much.

Reading a piece of poetry with no beat in front of 20 people is way more challenging than rocking for 10,000 people.

We go to the opening arguments or the closing arguments of a case, and we'd see which actor got the big one. I had a seven-page one once which just about killed me, and I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to get fired, that's it, I can't do it.' It was like a one-act play, and I had a few weeks to learn it, luckily. But it's terrifying.

Art is not a pastime, it is a duty with respect to the people, a public affair

I was asked if I would play President Obama in 'My Name is Khan.' I didn't feel comfortable with doing it. Partly because he was still in office, but mainly because I felt that there were other people who were better suited to doing the role.

When I played Robert Howard in 'The Whole Wide World', I was struggling with it. There's this dual thing where you feel real good about being able to play this juicy part, and then there's constant shame: 'Who am I to pretend to know who this guy was? Who am I to represent this guy for people who never knew him?'