Norbert Leo Butz Quotes

I am an internationally produced playwright.

It was Noel Coward whose technique I envied and tried to emulate. I collected all his records and writing.

I think meeting someone like, meeting Sam Shepard, that was someone who was kind of important for me, because I'd read so much of his work and watched him as an actor since I was a kid, then being on set doing a scene with him and thinking, 'This is really surreal.'

I went to a performance of 'The Crucible' at the Guthrie when I was a sophomore in high school, and I knew right away that that's what I wanted to do.

I still credit Adrian Lester with being one of my biggest influences.

Before acting, I was always attracted to words, to literature - be they the words of Williams, Arthur Miller, Shakespeare or Moliere.

I am a fan before I am an artist. I was that twelve year old girl that looked up to Taylor Swift. I get what that role is as a fan. I think that because I know that, I'm really careful and intentional about what I say and what I put out. I want to be that role for anyone who wants me to be that.

I believe that nothing comes of nothing, even in Shakespeare. I wanted to know where he got the matter he was working with and what he did with that matter.

My second play, The Birthday Party, I wrote in 1958 - or 1957. It was totally destroyed by the critics of the day, who called it an absolute load of rubbish.

I've always been a huge fan of Charles Lawton's performance in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' so somewhere along the line, I've always wanted to play that character.

I wrote 'Buried Child' in a trailer at an old ranch house we had in California.

I didn't even know what a mark was, but I fell in love with acting.

A lot of American playwrights seem to have a career as a playwright. I don't consider it a career at all.

Sam Shepard is a brilliant writer.

Alice Ripley was someone who had had a huge effect on me when I had gotten out of college and decided that this was the road I wanted to take - to write musicals.

I remember how as I kid I would love stories of every kind - whether they were narrated in school or what I read in books. Storytelling would always appeal to me, I would take part in poetry reciting, dramatics, choreography and debates. There was this fascination for performance, which finally culminated in a professional sphere.

As an actor, I believe that theatre is the one of the most immediate and exciting mediums to inspire young girls to succeed.

If it wasn't for the Porcaro brothers, I don't know where I'd be right now. My life would be completely different.

The older I get and the more iconic the piece, I believe that it's wise to watch a bit and become inspired and take moments that feel so connected to the story and also connected to me that I feel like I can make a part of my own performance.

Getting to work with Edie Falco and watching her be a quiet presence - but a very powerful presence - and so brilliant and free? That was the first person I saw where I was like, 'I want to emulate that.'

One of my biggest influences is Mac Miller, so to follow in his footsteps would be incredible. He's definitely a big inspiration to me.

When I was seven-years-old I discovered the Spice Girls. I fell in love immediately, and I decided I wanted to be a musician myself. This became my goal and my biggest passion to strive for. And so I dressed up as a pop star at Halloween 1996.

Who influenced me the most? I'd have to say Lauryn Hill, I think she influenced me the most.

I'm not an actress. I'm a writer.

As for Aamir Khan, he keeps raising the standard with every film. For an artist like me or a newcomer like me, we can only look up to that and dream, 'When will that be us someday?' There's so much to learn from him. He is the encyclopedia of acting.