Matthew Lillard Quotes

You play to different parts of yourself when you take on various roles. Like, you are your confident self when you're playing this person, and you're your sad self when playing another person - but it's all a part of you somewhere.

To explore different parts of yourself and different emotional lives... not to hide from who you are but to actually explore who you are.

There's something safe about playing a character, but then it's like, 'Who am I underneath it all?'

I play myself all the time, on camera and off. What else can I do?

For a lot of actors, there's a sort of code of honor around playing something other than yourself, which I just don't have. I love feeling like I'm - I won't even say acting out, but performing in some deep seam of my consciousness or my family's consciousness or my past. That's really amusing to me.

I want filmmakers to notice me, not just as a glam doll but as a human being with all facets of emotions.

As I say, there's something that scares the hell out of me but it really makes me work hard in losing myself. I'm not really interested in me as an actor or being a personality player, or a Hollywood star. What's given to me is to become different people and to find the truth of that. That is really what I do.

Somebody once said that you can never act and be another person; you're only acting facets of yourself. I think there's a lot of truth in that.

Act out being alive, like a play. And after a while, a long while, it will be true.

To be an actor or actress, you have to feel on a deep level and tap into emotions that you've never felt before. You're imagining how something would feel. You have to use your imagination so much.

I felt more comfortable playing other people than being myself, when I was a kid. And then, the tables turned. Through my performances, I've become more comfortable with who I am, and then I just bring more of myself into the people that I play.

Every role you do is kind of a side of yourself. That's why they give you the part.

I am attracted to the complexities and deeper truths of characters, and I can't name a favourite role any more than I can name a favourite food!

Being an actor, you are recognized for being somebody else, whereas these books are distilled from me.

I don't think I'm like any of the characters I've played - they're all really far from who I am.

The idea of transformation - playing something I'm not - is the bit I enjoy most about acting.

Acting is a form of confession.

Whatever character you play, it gives you the chance to expose another side of yourself that maybe you've never felt comfortable with, or never knew about.

Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls. The key is always to speak in your own voice. Speak the truth. That's Acting 101. Then you start putting layers on top of that.

If you have to change something about you to be in a part, I don't think it's easy to do. You should just pick the part where you can just be yourself.

You can spend a bit of yourself when you give yourself to a character. At the end of a job, you have to remind yourself who and what you are.

Like, that was weird in 'Hamlet 2,' because I played myself there, fully myself, but then I realized, 'Oh, I'm not playing myself. I'm some weird version of myself.' So as an actress, you're always playing something, I don't even know who I am, how could I become me? I don't know what that is.

I have to live in the truth that this is who I am. That's what I need to focus on.

I don't believe you can get into somebody's character but more that somebody comes in you. You just use yourself. In everything I play, I feel like it is me. I just say different things on different times and look different.

When you are developing a character you have to bring so much of yourself to the role.