Michael Shannon Quotes

I think some actors thrive on working at a much greater pace than I do.

I would take plays and I would cut out all the other dialogue and make long monologues because I felt the other kids weren't taking it as seriously as I did.

I think my best teacher and my best study was theater in general. It taught me a lot of patience and a lot of hard work, and I think that theater teaches you that you've got to know your stuff because you only get one chance.

I always appreciate hard work, and every actor has a different process. I appreciate focus.

When I am rehearsing for a play, I try to read nothing that might distract my concentration from the work in progress.

I took my play very seriously, and I got way, way lost in my play world.

Meisner technique was different than anything I'd ever experienced. It's a really great way to be accountable to your craft and to yourself, but also it takes that kind of focus and dedication to learn anything.

What gets me upset about with the newer players is their lack of intensity. They tend to go through the motions a little bit. They don't understand that you've got to practice the way you play.

I'm challenged by people like Russell Crowe and Sean Penn who come in with such incredible discipline and power.

Whenever I am acting, it's everything, you know. If I'm researching a role, I'm completely consumed in that and, between action and cut, I live in this suspended time.

When I'm on set, I do whatever I can to find my focus.

I just want to act. I just want to do the work.

Once I'm on set, the only thing I'm really interested in is being in the room. Being present. And trusting that what I've done is sufficient, and I'm also trusting that I've also left room for magic.

Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job in hand. They didn't waste time waiting for inspiration.

It's just acting. I take acting seriously but up to a point.

There's nothing romantic about my work... I don't believe in inspiration. I believe that you get to your desk, you stay there, you work, you think of nothing else. You write and you write, and in the end, you write something good.

I started as a straight actor. I'd go onstage, and I'd think, 'Wow, this is the only thing I want to work really hard at. I will rehearse fifty times on a single scene; I don't care - I'll do it again.'

I get very involved in my roles. I want people to think it's all really happening. If I'm in it, I'm in it.

I've always approached acting from a very workmanlike perspective.

I've taken that with me since working with him; in order to be William Hurt, you have use every moment like he does.

In the theater, you get very close with everyone, and you have to because you're with each other all the time. I respect it. It's a challenge, but it's very worth the hard work.

For me acting is passion, emotion, and creating the character and the whole world around the character. We enjoy all that. Sleeping on time, eating healthy, you are what your lifestyle is.

I work really hard on every character and do everything in order to make it look authentic.

Nothing comes easy when I'm in character, because everything I do in character, I take seriously.

I don't believe in inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs. Some of the time you know you're cooking, and the rest of the time, you just do it.