Paddy Considine Quotes

Our impulse as people is to try to control; as an actor, you have to give up that control.

I guess there's this mind shift that happens once you're on stage. I don't know, chemicals, something happens and you just... I just become completely in control of where I am. And it's all about trusting the people that you're on the stage with, listening... and it just falls into place really easily.

Because acting was my only professional outlet, I put a ton of pressure on the roles that I did. I overstepped my bounds, I tried to control things that were out of my purview as an actor and in some cases even tried to direct my scenes because I felt I knew how they should run rather than trust the director.

To me, one of the things I love about being an actor is that it's never done; it's never perfect, and so it's the process. It's like practicing being okay with things not being perfect and things being outside of your control.

For me, acting goes to a special place; it's almost mystical. You have to let go of what you think is good; it's a jump into trust, and trying to reach without wanting too much.

As an actor, you have to give up all control to the director. He's the boss, and has all the power. I'm a control freak, so that's really hard for me.

If you don't trust everybody on stage with you, then you're in trouble.

Acting is an uncomfortable business because you have to make yourself vulnerable.

Some directors cast you because they trust you to do the performance - but then they forget to direct you.

'Writing' always means 'not writing' to me because I will do anything to put it off. I think this is mainly because writing anything down and then handing it over to a third party - especially in comedy - is such an exposing act that you naturally want to delay the process.

The more and more I work with really great actors, the more it's about opening yourself up to what they bring.

There's nowhere to hide in the theatre. You can't be the one in rehearsal who doesn't know their lines.

The actor already comes with emotions to the scene: fear, the fear of being in front of the camera. It is this fear that spurs the emotion of the scene. I too am afraid; I don't know exactly what I am searching for. On the set, we are all participating in this fear together.

I don't feel that I have to control every aspect of things that I appear in. You learn a lot performing someone else's writing.

In baseball, I was always in control of everything until I let the ball go.

The one thing I learned the most about acting is it takes a tremendous amount of courage to go there and stand still. It takes courage and guts to step out of your mind frame and depict something.

The best way to navigate through life is to give up all of our controls.

I used to think religion was just more of the same thing. Dump responsibility on the big guy. Now I see an importance in that. It's a relief to accept that not everything is under your control.

One can not love without opening oneself, and opening oneself, that's taking the risk of suffering. One does not have control.

You have to be really open to your acting partners and believe in the story.

I always tell my kids that as soon as you have a secret, something about you that you are ashamed to have others find out, you have given other people the power to hurt you by exposing you.

One of the things I love about directing is I love actors, because no matter how complex they are, once you get down to working and talking to them and the toughest guy will want you to open them up and he wants to show you stuff he was afraid to show anybody before.

To whom you tell your secrets, to him you resign your liberty

I think, as an actor, you're constantly confronted with your fear of sticking your neck out.

Powerful people are always in charge. You have to acknowledge that and deal with it as a reality. They're not devils. They're not monsters. They're human beings, like us, that have their share of insecurities and fears. You have to contemplate that as you go through life.