Sanaa Lathan Quotes

In theater, there's a lot of work to do to build the characters. It's a great experience.

That's the difference between working on film and working in a play. In a play, you work on it, and you live in it and develop it and make it happen.

I love opening night, and I love doing plays. But one of my favorite parts about doing a play or working on a new play is rehearsal.

I love stage work. The thing about plays is that they're perfectible. With film, you shoot that take and maybe another. During 'Spamalot,' I rewrote Act II three times.

We've always had the sensibility that you work on the set, and you structure it, much like a play, where once you've got the lines down and blocking right, you freeze it, and then you go out and do what you're doing night after night. You want to structure something that has form and that builds the right dynamic from start to finish.

I really miss the rehearsal process of theater.

I enjoy making films, but my heart is in the stage. Every night you have to be on. There's no second take.

I've done a lot of theater, and I know that it's a different audience each time who doesn't know the story, and we have to tell it.

I've always really liked theater. It fascinated me. You can create a reality and get people involved in that reality. It takes place in real time.

That's the great thing about being an actor, you get to try out lots of things for your roles.

People prefer doing films. That is not the case with me. I don't do theatre because I have to but because it makes me feel alive. I enjoy the whole process of rehearsing, though repetition can make it tedious.

With theater, you have to really be able to listen and to respond to other people on stage. You're all constantly on your toes. And then with film and television, you can get a second take and things like that.

I gained a great deal from the period during which I worked in theater and I value those things a great deal.

I think theater is a great training ground; I think it's a great opportunity to play.

I had always sort of done dramatic things, and I love them; it's my background. But when I think about 'Fresh Meat,' I just think about the cast and the crew that we had... we just had a great time.

When you're doing a play that's fully produced, you have the benefit of rehearsing for four or five weeks, so you really get to live in the skin of the character for much longer than when you first start doing a character on TV.

I've really grown to love film, but I think occasionally you need to get up on a stage and see what's going on.

You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you do, and there's not a lot of waiting around and interruption and not a lot of money involved - sometimes money really clouds the waters of creativity.

The great thing about stage is that you have a live audience.

Movie making is such a long process, and they only use that one take, although you do it over and over about 30 times. Live theatre is that one time and one time only.

In film you have the opportunity of retakes or of giving your best profile. In theatre, it's right here, right now.

Acting in a scene is easy.

I think I'll never stop doing theater because it's a more physical and athletic activity. You can't pull any punches; there are no short cuts, and you have to be physically present and committed. I love the excitement and the response of being in front of a live audience.

Theatre is for you if you truly want to act and test yourself. There is no room for error as you are performing in front of a live audience.

In theatre, you rehearse for months and then perform. That way, you're totally in-sync with your character, the other characters, and the story.