David Schwimmer Quotes

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

Acting is ephemeral. You can't hang it on a wall. You can't throw it off. And you can't bring it out of a closet. It's there one night and it's gone the next, at least with stage acting anyhow.

In theater acting, you leave that night and what it was is what it was.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

Movies have takes. But plays are like life - you don't really get takes.

I'm always happy and most at home on the stage. I love film and television, but I love live performance... your immediacy with the audience, it makes all the difference in the world.

Theatre's a whole different beast to film. It requires a lot more of you.

I love TV now, and 'Modern Family,' but what draws me back to theater is that initial instinct of wanting to be a theater actor. I love the challenge of starting a play and not stopping until you finish. I love the immediacy of trusting your instincts.

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.

I do my best creating on stage.

I've always performed. I've done plays at home.

I think any actor would agree that you can't replace theater. It's immediate. You have the energy of the crowd and every single night it's different.

I love performing.

So what's so enticing about doing a play is that you get to do that thing that got you into acting in the first place... There's a real attraction to being able to play, to just play. And that's something that theater affords you.

I would rather do a play because it's instantaneous. You go on the stage, and you know whether it's happening or not. Somebody asked me 'What is acting?' And I said, 'Acting is listening.' And if you ain't listening, nobody's listening.

I have, I think to do a play a year is very good if you can afford the time and the energy because it's difficult to do, it's really the actors medium of course, because you're really out there and nobody's yelling cut so, yeah I have.

In live stage, the actor lives.

No matter how good you might be in a movie, you'll never be any better. But in a play, I can be better next Tuesday. That's the thrill of it.

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.

Acting was merely a pastime; I wanted to make films. But theatre, ah - now that was a labour of love. Can there be anything better than performing without retakes and cuts, in front of people you can see, hearing them breathe in the darkness of the hall?

I think the hardest thing I've had to learn is that just because people might speak a certain way in real life doesn't mean it's engaging in the theater.

Doing my Broadway show '700 Sundays' reminded me how much I love working in front of an audience.

I think theater is more about living and breathing, versus TV, which can vary.

I loved entertainment and acting, performing. I just liked the stage and having the spotlight and stuff.

I enjoy working on stage. Having relationships with the audiences and question and answer sessions afterwards. I enjoy that.