Paul Wesley Quotes

There are always things that I'd love to do. As an actor, none of them are specific; all I'm looking for are things that are good quality, that are challenging for me to work on, and even better if I get to work with people that I respect and am excited to work with.

That is one of the reasons one enjoys acting. Now and again, you get scenes where you work with somebody really good and you have a good time trying to make it really work and really work well.

It's part of the job of the actor to torture the director.

There's something about actors - not stars, but actors - if they have the character, and someone is pushing and shoving them to be the best they can be, they enjoy that.

With a sitcom, everyday you do a run through, and people are judging you, and the scripts are being changed nightly, nightly, nightly.

I've worked with actors who tell everyone what to do in the scene - that makes me go pretty atomic.

I think acting is boring because you have to sit for a long time. And being a director I am used to running around and being busy on sets. I lack the actor software.

I like directors who come ready to challenge you to ask the right questions about your character, and I know that directors appreciate that in actors as well.

Any musical is a major undertaking.

The network was fantastic, but you get a lot of anxiety with any production. It was very helpful to have both of us because we could back each other up. As a creator, a director and a filmmaker, you often get assaulted and you lose perspective because you have all of this pressure. It was so nice to call him and say, "What do you think?"

I have worked in films where we just put on the make-up and go in for a shoot without any discussions and even a talk with the director.

My experience with the National Theatre in Kracow often involved many changes of storyline and character. This was particularly useful when working with a director such as Pawel Pawlikowski who is quite intuitive and demands flexibility in an actor.

When I did 'Naanum Rowdy Thaan' with Nayanthara, she was in the peak of her career - I was apprehensive about her willingness to act with me.

Looking back at it now, it's almost overwhelming, the amount of work that went into writing 'Shine', and to come up with the ideas that we're doing now.

I feel that I don't know anything, I don't know how to act, but I can surrender myself to a director I respect and love. I feel very lucky to be a part of their visions.

I'd really like to do 'Floyd Collins.' I love Adam Guettel.

When I find those actors who are going to work that hard and collaborate that deeply, my role is to make sure there's a whole lot there for them to work with.

Good actors can tell you more about your play than 1,000 hours alone at your desk.

When I was working on 'Deadwood', it was understood that the script was a work in progress, and when we got to set, everyone would kind of work on it together.

I always approach every play based on the cast. When Denzel and I did 'Fences,' I didn't go to rehearsals and say, 'OK, James Earl Jones did a wonderful job in '87. Let me see if you can come close to James Earl Jones.'

I believe in doing a nude scene only when I trust the director.

The rehearsal process is the biggest gift you can give to the director and to yourself as an actor because it allows you to shape the character and the scenes.

As an actor, I have had an iconic journey and was fortunate enough to have worked with some really wonderful directors.

I find that what doubt does, or fear, is it makes you come up with as many ideas as you possibly can. And on film that works 'cause you're then handing over that fear to the director, who has to make sense of all those options!

The biggest challenge for me, as an actor, is to be informed, prepared and focused, at the same time. I had to just keep on working, prepping, reading and imagining, all the way through, but the biggest challenge is always to let go of all that and just be open to others. That's what we do, as actor. We play with each other and we stimulate each other, and we have to be prepared to be stimulated by the other. That's always my big challenge.