Julie Harris Quotes

No matter how many modern parts I do, people still refer to me as Mrs. Costume Drama.

Movement is very important to a character, no matter what period you're working in. So when it came to playing Emma Jung and lacing up in the corset, it was really not a foreign thing for me.

My advice to young actors is probably to do some theatre; definitely do that. I keep running into these actors who have never been on stage, and it's invaluable for an actor. What you will learn about yourself is huge.

I knew Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were really talented. As actors, they were both studly young men, and they had great writers' chops.

I'd always wanted to do costume drama, but period dramas often become very wooden. Just because they're born in the 1400s, all of a sudden people start losing their sense of humour or their personalities.

Of course, it's wonderful to film any period piece - but especially 'Foyle's War' because the art direction is so imaginative and yet at the same time so real. You can open a drawer on set, and even though the camera never sees what's inside, it'll be filled with genuine 1940s documents.

It's important that period films aren't seen as just a lovely visual exercise.

The real trick to auditioning is just letting go of trying to please them. Make it your own. That took me a long time to learn.

I see it in a lot of period pieces where everybody is standing and talking, in a stilted, archaic way, instead of being loose in the world. So, I try to do a little bit of research, just so that I can feel like I'm grounded, but then I try to bring as much of my human understanding that I can, under the filter of it being 1865.

I would suggest it to any actor to get some movement classes because it really, really makes a difference.

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.

You don't really have to dress a ton of actors. You don't really have to spend a bunch of money lining up extras to look the time period.

I understudied Colm Feore quite a bit in '85 and '86 - 'Persephone' and 'The Boys from Syracuse,' too - and that was great, great training for me. He was and he is an amazing theatre actor.

Sometimes when you're working on a period piece, there's this tendency to be nostalgic about the period and do everything superglamorous, which can end up looking cliche.

The opulence and grandeur of a lot of period drama really helps you get into character and appreciate the luxury of good quality. If you're fashion-minded in any way, you can't help but be incredibly inspired and apply elements to your own style.

I'm not very good at being a performing monkey.

I feel like when you perform in a period drama, it's so easy to transform yourself into someone else because the costumes are so different.

People say that I'm quite grumpy and negative on stage and that I surely can't be like that off it, but I really am.

Once you learn how to free up in front of the camera, it's like nothing else.

I think I have a period drama face. That's the reason I've always gone back to the West End, because for me, that's where all the interesting roles have been.

Whenever I have to work on my skills or add to my craft, I do theatre. It's one place where I can learn a lot as an actor.

I've been really lucky when it comes to casting kids, and I don't particularly like child actors. Too often, they just show up, and they've had whatever real innocence that's in a child just beaten out of them. They start to perform for you, and you can just see it coming. It's no good.

As an actor, I've been taught to just stay with your scene partner, and whatever they do, let it affect you, be spontaneous.

That, for me, actually is the most important thing about doing a period film is trying to make these people as lovable as they are back then.

I love period drama as much as the next person, but there's a tendency to let all of the costume get in the way of the people.