Alyson Stoner Quotes

Some of the best actors in the world are very exterior actors, Anthony Hopkins being one of them. He knows exactly how to turn his face to get a certain expression. He knows exactly what to do with eyes, and with his voice. It's very exterior.

An actor's body should be full of emotions, whether it is happiness or sorrow, pain or joy, enraged or elated.

I watched season four of 'The Wire.' They have subtle performances that they do through their eyes. You could watch season four with the audio off and still understand what's happening through their eyes.

Breathing is always key in any character. When you have a character with no voice, that makes it even more important.

I play characters, and I try to play them in a manner that's appropriate to the script. Physical movement and vitality of language is part of character.

It's a good challenge as an actor to express feelings without saying too many words.

Though I am associated in the public mind with glamorous songs and dances, my appearance in 'Company' is in no way glamorous. Rather than rely on my body language, the number zooms in on my facial expressions.

If anything, I'm overacting in the ring because of the facials and the body language. I want the guy in the cheap seats to be able to see what I'm thinking, the expression on my face. But when you're filming a movie, it could be a two- or three-camera shot, and you're doing it over and over and over again. It's not live TV; it's a lot different.

I use my hands a lot while acting.

When I watch an actress say a line, I watch how they deliver the lines with gestures.

There is this miraculous thing I heard Hugh Grant talking about - the thing about screen acting is that you can read people's thoughts. You are trying to register something inside and usually the eyes in cinema are where you will register that.

I play guys who never smile, and I never stop smiling.

It's hard to act with just your jaw.

The writing is important, but the way you say the line and the pause you give it, the facial expression - all of that is very important.

I always play these rodent type characters - skittish and hyper like a chipmunk. It's a complete act though. I'm a very normal person.

I'm a very physical actor; everything I do is pretty much body-oriented. I sometimes am able to deliver information just with a look; my face does two or three different things, and it says it all.

I like to use my hands. When I was in theatre in college, that was one of my biggest notes: 'You use your hands too much.'

When it comes to acting, you really have to create movement which in some ways is dancing. And dancing, I feel is very important to act as well. I wouldn't put one over the other.

If you look at me in 'Ride Along,' even though I'm playing two different characters, my demeanor and my tone were not aggressive.

There is technique to it-he is just standing there flexing his arm, and I am standing there making faces as if I am being choked. You keep your head in a certain angle for the camera.

I've always been a people-watcher, and as an actor, later, I just mined all those little details.

The best way to show an emotion is not through a character's words, but their smallest expressions - to take what an actor would visually do and try putting that down on the page for the reader to 'see.'

One of the things I'm always reminded of when I'm back on stage is how much you have to be aware of and in control of. There is no tight shot. There is no 'we're only shoulders-up this time.' No, from the top of your head to your pinky toe, you're telegraphing part of the story the entire time you're up there.

Emotions often must be portrayed from an inner feeling, of course, but I had a double advantage because I was learning to direct my as-yet expressionless feelings as well as gaining an ability to express emotion by a very conscious manipulation of my muscles.

As a dancer, it's hard because there's such a perfectionist quality that you really have to let go of while you're acting, because nobody wants to a watch a perfect person on screen.