Aidan Gillen Quotes

I really don't know what I'm doing... I don't. It's terrible. I go in there and I learn how to be like the character and do the best I can, and that's all I really do.

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.

I've been on projects before where there's no rehearsal, and you walk in on set and that's literally the first time you've ever played the character, and then I've had times where there's been three weeks of rehearsal. I like both.

I make it a point to study the character I do, and if the story demands that I wear a particular outfit, I'm game.

Acting has always been something I've wanted to get into. I think the best models are actors; you're taking on a character. In that sense, I have been acting for a long time. It didn't seem like a crazy transition.

I think that different actors go about their preparation differently, but when it comes to acting, I use my imagination.

I did one of the 'Amazing Stories.' That was the first time I got to play a character who was a dumb blonde. I actually channeled Judy Holliday.

As a young performer, I didn't know that you can have a great time playing someone in terrible crisis. The more you know it's not real, the deeper you can go into it. And the easier it is to let it go when it's done.

It's not good just to have life experience of film-making and that's all. It's hard to play a real person when you've been in jets and town cars for three years.

You know, I've never been much of a method actor. I feel like, with every project I go in extremely prepared and I like to have a good time.

When I do film, I really take on roles and I take on characters.

Whenever I am acting, it's everything, you know. If I'm researching a role, I'm completely consumed in that and, between action and cut, I live in this suspended time.

Acting to me is always reacting.

They did cast me as an ingenue once, and the novelty was nice. But I said, 'There is nothing here to play!' I really like getting into the meat of a role.

I look for a role that hopefully I feel empathy with and that I can understand and love, but also that has that challenge for me to play - a different kind of role, a different type of character, a different time period.

I always find filming stressful. I get very caught up thinking about my character - 'Am I doing it right? Should it be done this way?'

Any sort of role requires a certain amount of research and embodiment of the character and psychological investigation.

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.

A lot of actors and actresses pull from past experiences.

When you get to set, you don't try to play the plot; you just play the character.

My only job is to act and play the character truthfully and honestly.

Acting is about portraying something... that dedication or learning the script of it is really important in really getting to know a topic.

I like to prepare for my roles well, so you can call me a method actor to an extent.

I was amazed by the kind of preparation Hollywood actors do for their roles.

On screen, I may hate a co-star, have a stomach ache, but I have to convince you of that emotion that is demanded on cue. There are times when I feel like dancing, but on 'action,' I'll have to cry.