Paddy Considine Quotes

Actors will, in their mind, want to 'steal the scene,' and the problem is that means the scene didn't work in the first place.

Actors always feel more comfortable when there's an actor directing, in terms of vocabulary and breaking down a scene.

I've spent most of my life trying to make actors comfortable, which I think is 90 percent of getting a good performance.

I usually don't say anything to the actors. It works better for me because when they come to the set, they are at the same time scared and excited because they are not well aware of what will happen.

When you're acting in a scene, you're focused on doing the scene. You can't break character and go, 'Oh my God, I love what you're doing!'

Mike Leigh taught me about making choices - as an actor, you choose between being honest and clever, and with Mike, it's always about being honest. I learned how to behave on a film set from Jim Broadbent. He was a great example of someone with a fantastic career who kept his feet on the ground.

I don't think it's necessary to be an actor to get great performances out of an actor. But I do think it helps me as a director because I know what I like as an actor, and I try to get that to the actors who I'm working with.

There are certain expectations that are put on you as a child actor, but mainly it's just turn up and say your lines with a lot of energy and a cute smile.

I do think that's so much a part of what being a director is - in working with actors - to really try and be sensitive to what each actor needs to get to where he wants to be.

As an actor, you're trained to do the right thing, be politically correct, say your lines, say the right thing about the people you're working with.

Many times I've sat with a camera and another actor and seen all their fears and insecurities and struggles. You want to support them and help them as much as you can.

I don't call cut between the takes - it's my way to help the actor keep focused. As soon as you say 'cut' you have 10 people jumping on them and everybody's trying to do a great job, and they do, but sometimes they forget that the more important thing is the performance, creating the performance.

It's hard enough to just be a good actor. When you're on set, there's everything going against you. There are walkie talkies going off, the camera is creaking and moving, there are boom mics, and you have to hit your mark and make sure you don't shadow the other person's face. It's a really technical process.

On the whole, actors shout when they don't know what they're doing, trying to make an impact.

Some actors need to be rattled and some need to be focused.

Every character I've ever played, I always try to take him right to the edge and not allow him to fall over, but directors have a tendency to pull me back a little bit.

When I'm acting, I'm two beings. There's the one monitoring the distance between myself and the camera, making sure I hit my marks, and there is the one driven by this inner fire, this delicious fear.

There are plenty of bad actors and there are plenty of bad directors. There are actors who will always be bad and there are good actors who you cry for because they're being badly directed or the material isn't good enough.

The one thing for an actor that is complete death is if you're bored, because that boredom will show in your work.

The weird thing about acting is you're the most competent when you're at your best, but you have to be validated.

As an actor... at some point you've got to forget that the crew's there in order to do your job.

Oliver Stone's strategy is to unnerve the actors so as to make them alert and alive.

When I met Peter Weir, we did a movie called 'Master and Commander' together, and that's when I really started to understand the power of acting, the power of directing, finding the emotion in performance.

I have often seen an actor laugh off the stage, but I don't remember ever having seen one weep.

They call David O. Russell the actor whisperer because he can get stuff out of actors that maybe some other directors can't.