Taissa Farmiga Quotes

A lot of the stuff you do as an actor - or I do, because I can't speak for everyone - is not always consciously thought out. A lot of the time, for me, it's actually just feeling stuff, and it happens all in the moment and your body reacts.

Acting to me is always reacting.

I never think about the play or visualize anything. I do what comes to me at that moment. Instinct. It has always been that way.

I don't know if I do anything to get into character: I just go with my gut.

A wonderful acting teacher I love, Josh Pais, has a system I love for being in the moment in acting, but also in life. And one of the things he reminds me of is to take a moment and just be here now.

Rigidity is the enemy of acting. And I think that people who stay up all night focusing on every beat they're going to do the next day always end up getting screwed.

It's kind of amazing; I don't know anything. It's an interesting way to work where you're living in the moment and making decisions for your character in the moment. You have to go with your gut on everything - try not to over-think things. That tends to make me doubt what I did, but then that's always the case. I'm a worrier. I have to accept that and just be a worrier.

Sometimes you have to get out of your own way as an actor. Young actors tend to over prepare sometimes and over think it. And actually there is nothing wrong with walking on a set with an empty brain and then on action allowing your adrenaline and your trust in yourself to take over.

I have never had time for the idea of searching. Whenever I wanted to express something, I did so without thinking of the past or the future.

Good acting is about reacting, not tryingto express something, but reacting to a situation as the character.I don't like acting acting.

Thinking is the problem. Thinking is hazardous to your progress in life. Don't think - feel.

I can disappear into things very easily. But with acting, you have to be in the moment, and it gives me this incredibly fulfilling emotion: being really present.

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.

There's a Zen to acting, by being in the moment. That's where the power is.

One was never taught how to begin at drama school. But all it required was one intake of breath.

I'm more interested in knowing my cues than my lines. If you know what your cues are, then you know what your reaction is going to be to them. Acting is about reacting, and if I can kind of purely react, that's easier for me.

The key to acting is less acting and just reacting.

There is a part of your brain that has to stop when you're acting. You have to be in the moment and dare to fly. Words can't be on your mind.

I don't have a process; I just feel it. My book on acting would be very short.

When you're out there thinking too much, that's when you can throw the ball away a lot of times. Just play. When I don't think, I have fun.

I have no 'dream role.' It just comes to me; it's very intuitive, and I say, 'OK, I have to do this now.' It's not logical; just, 'I have to jump into this very strange character,' or something like that. I can't even explain it.

Acting has always been instinctive to me.

There's a huge part of me that's thinking about perfection. I have to fight that urge, to try to live in the moment, reach for something that I might be hearing, and not second-guess myself.

The best things happen when you're not overthinking it.

Improvisation, the main thing is it teaches you to be in the moment and present in the moment and be reactive and proactive for what's going on. Someone gives you something - a lot of actors are a little shut off, so they're just doing, "This is my character, these are my lines, I'm going to just send it to you then you send whatever you're sending." Improvisation teaches you to really be listening.