Ari Graynor Quotes

You learn an incredible amount doing theatre, not just about to behave.

I think if you're an actor, then you can work on stage - but if you've never done it before, you're going to have picked up a few things that you're going to need to change when you're working on stage.

I knew absolutely nothing about acting, and had to be taught everything. Some people are born naturals and know how to walk, talk and hold themselves. I didn't and had to learn everything.

In film, you're always using your tools, your body, your voice, your emotions, but onstage, you use them in a different way.

It is important for an actor to learn how to face a live audience.

With acting, I always feel conscious of what I'm doing.

Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, seeing shows from the wings.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

You learn more discipline in the theatre than you do in movies or TV. You're on stage every night and you have to sustain your energy level tor several hours.

I've learnt that there's acting for film, acting for theatre, and acting for an audition.

I'm not a solid enough actor to have techniques.

That's how I learned how to act. I learned by doing it. I didn't start acting until I was 37.

Some people go to acting classes to learn. I just kind of went for the dates.

I never went to drama school, but I did learn a couple of things along the way.

I was a theater actor back in the U.K., and you knew the whole play, so you could plot your storyline and character. And then I did 'Lost' and didn't know, and it was kind of frustrating, but I enjoyed it.

I find performing very difficult. It's difficult to be a good actor. I get very nervous, even though it sounds disingenuous, because you could legitimately go, 'Well, why do it?'

For me, there's nothing more valuable as an actor, or better way to learn, than getting to perform in front of a live audience, no matter where you are. Whether it's on Broadway, in Florida, or doing a tour.

I learned how to act working in TV.

I run the Actor's Studio on the West Coast, and one of the things I say all the time to the people I teach - many of whom are acting teachers - is that an actor needs to make choices that make him present.

I did think that acting would be much more like being a pop star. Now I'm here, I can't think of anything more different.

It's important for an actor to feel like they're really being watched and to receive feedback and encouragement about the aspects of what they're doing that feels truthful - and also to raise awareness when they might be resorting to habits and tricks, which every actor has.

Drama school is really a forum for making a fool of yourself.

I've worked with a few coaches, and I did theater camp when I was younger, and I think what was good was when I was younger, it was never intense Interlochen theater camp.

Since I was a child, I've been playing children. When I was little, I was the kid that you'd hire to do the reading or workshop of your new material.

Actors are adults playing hide-and-ego-seek.