Miriam Shor Quotes

I have realised I am a director's actor.

In choosing any role, I ask the same questions: what kind of part is it? is the role challenging? does the director have a vision? is the story moving? etc.

If there is such a thing as 'a Cukor style,' I guess it arises out of two principal factors: my own personalized perception of the world and my ability to deal professionally with actors. As far as perception is concerned, I always try to imagine settings through the best possible eyes.

An actor can be as talented as another, but if he doesn't stick to what the director's intentions are, it all falls down. I adore working with actors.

The least amount of info actors get, the better. Actors are always like, 'What is my motivation for this?' You didn't write it. Just say the lines.

With any actor, if you know your character well enough, you'll know pretty much what he would say under any circumstance, or whatever situation might rear its head.

Part of an actor's job is to draw up a back story.

I approach directing from an actor's standpoint.

At the end of the day, you're handing your performance over. If a director says after a take, 'You know what, try it just really angry. Just get furious'... you're like, 'Well, I don't know if I want to give you that because I don't know if I trust what you're going to do with it.'

My experience has been that actors always want to be directed.

You - as a director, you have to do your job, you have to show things, and you don't have to ask the actors to do it, or the dialogue.

As an actor, your first priority is the work - immersing yourself in the role, backstory, and bringing that to screen.

I don't know what directing actors is all about apart from just casting well and then shaping their performances a bit, you know.

I'm a director's actor and go by what they say.

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.

I'm a director's actor, and I surrender myself to the vision and the process. I think nothing else matters then.

Jeff Bridges taught me a lot about how to keep a scene fresh.

You have more creative freedom with writing, in certain ways, because you can create everything that happens. But, as an actor you also have creative freedom because you don't so much focus on what has to move the story along, and only on how your character is reacting to situations.

I'm not the kind of actor who goes into exhaustive research for each role.

I feel my job as an actor is to explore all sides of humanity.

Working with a great director is like getting a master class in acting.

It's always a mystery when you're going into a role - 'Here's your wife of 40 years and... action!' How do you create ease or chemistry or whatever is supposed to exist?

I'm a technician. I don't go for the get-into-the-role stuff. I read the lines and play the scenes.

Well, it's more of a sane life to be part of an ensemble! I find that the work can be more specific too and I have to really make sure I know where I am in the story because I'm not in every scene.

Good directors give short and specific instructions to their actors.