Viggo Mortensen Quotes

The more and more I work with really great actors, the more it's about opening yourself up to what they bring.

The rehearsal time is almost my favourite part of being an actress, particularly if you're working on a play that hasn't been done before.

It's a hard thing to do, to be given a script, and know that you've got to turn up on the first day of the shoot - generally without having had any rehearsal - and present a character. It's really baffling; it's incredibly hard to know how to begin, to approach it, other than just thinking about it.

You have to run, an awful lot, on instinct. Even on 'Veep,' it's not like you get weeks of rehearsal to break out what's going on in the scenes.

I think back story can help guide your choices, but when you're playing a scene, you're not making choices; you're just intuitive.

It's sort of the most important thing for acting, is to listen to the person you're dealing with.

Every actor has their own process. For me, I really need to stay in the pocket. So, if I'm on set and I'm in character, I'm not thinking like a producer. If I'm on set and I'm not in character, wardrobe and make-up, and I'm just coming on set for the moments that I'm not shooting, then I'm able to be the producer.

I definitely think it exercises an interesting muscle, auditioning for bad parts and trying to figure out how to make it real. I don't know what I'm talking about now.

I've never got a part in the same way twice. I've never prepared the same way. I've never experienced the filming the process the same way.

As an actor, it's amazing to get to create different characters.

Mostly I work really unconsciously, and I think if the scenes are really well written, which they are, and if I just throw myself into it, I don't really think about it.

One of the exciting and enjoyable aspects of acting is being in the environment with another actor.

As an actor, you're listening to the other person and always trying to be present and take everything they're giving you, but when they're not there, you have to produce that yourself.

The key to acting - from what little I know about that wonderful craft - is listening, and interacting with the other person in order to achieve magic. One way to do that is almost to provoke.

I try to really focus on the actors I'm working with and kind of read and respond to their behavior.

I approach directing from an actor's standpoint.

Directing remains very psychological, and it takes a lot of time and reflection. When you're an actor, it takes less time, and you can express yourself physically.

Know your lines; otherwise, have an open mind because you want to get lost in the moment. When you have talented actors and directors to work with, then it's pretty easy to do.

I think every actor would probably say that it's always a collaboration. And if you ask directors, they'll tell you that they expect the actors to bring something. They don't want to be thinking for everybody.

Sometimes I'm on a TV set, and I can't feel what I'm supposed to feel as that character because I've not worked my way up to that point. I think there's a bit more insecurity on a set - you've got to blag it, or you've got to do what you've been paid a lot of money to do in a very short space of time.

Stevie Van Zandt could not walk on to a set and act. I don't know how actors do that! It's the scariest thing in the world.

I learned the process of this kind of acting, how things run, how chaotic it can be, and what kind of different muscles you have to flex.

Every role I get is always a challenge. I can read a script and say, 'Oh, I can do that!' and then when I start working on it, I suddenly realize that I had no idea what I was getting into. Then I have to really work hard!

In some ways, it's easier to be the lead. Week after week, scene after scene, the rhythms of filming force you to peel away a certain amount of artifice. When you're on set that much, there's a license to let the character emerge from the work itself.

Acting has always been very comfortable for me, so it allows me to pay attention to other parts of the process literally while I'm acting.