Rob Reiner Quotes

It's just about being an entertainer; it's about having all those tools over the years to do all sorts: films, musicals, playing a bit of piano, running a quiz show - it just becomes part of the job.

When I meet a good actor, I would like to be a director. When I meet a good director, I would like to be an actor. When there is a good script, I would like to be both a director and an actor. The switch is very natural, not intentional.

When you do improv, you're everything. You're a performer, writer, and director, because you're moving the scene in the direction you want it to go, you're making it up as you go, and you're acting it.

Directing is a lot of fun, but you have to be on your toes every minute. If you zone out for even a second, you'll miss something and things will get screwed up. And here's a little secret that I'm going to let out of the bag: That is not the case with acting.

When you're acting and directing, you're standing there acting with another actor, and you're trying to do your performance, and at the same time you're watching their performance, and making sure the lights are in the right place, and if the person is wearing the right wardrobe. All these things are going on in your head.

I can't imagine doing anything without being an improviser. I can't imagine trying to write or act or direct without what improvising offers you.

Acting can be pretty challenging. I can't say making a romantic comedy is challenging, but to do anything well, you have to put yourself into it.

I'm a dramatist, so I really always wrote and directed at the same time because when I wrote something, I always put it on its feet. So I'm in love with actors; I always loved actors.

Going forward, I have four different ways of approaching what I want to do - I can generate my own material by writing. I can produce, direct, act, or do a combination of these things, mixing it up.

The great thing about stand up is you get to do other things. You get to do your stand up tours but you also get to do 'Have I Got News For You.' You get to do a sitcom, but you also get to do the 'Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice.' I'm easily bored, so I like the variety.

I always just like to do good stuff, and I'm very, very lucky that I do almost everything. I do theatre, radio, TV, film, and also comedy and drama as well.

I have a lot of respect for people who are great at ad-libbing, and for writers and directors who are able to create a scene in which that works.

We would do improvisation together. And that in a way, had almost a "student-film side" where we'd be sitting there with Robert Downey and Jon Favreau and we're playing around, we're jamming around and we read those pages and in next couple of days that's what we do, so it was a good experience. Kind of frightening at first because you didn't quite know how it was going to work out, but they had some very talented people there so it worked out well.

The biggest thing that comes out of improv that gets built on is just character traits. You know, for me the singing was born out of improv.

James Franco, acting, teaching, directing, writing, producing, photography, soundtracks, editing - is there anything you can do?

I'd quite like to try all sorts of different things, whether it be theatre, TV or film.

Martin Freeman is a genius, he really is. He gives you every color of the rainbow in every take and it's wonderful just to play off of him and opposite him.

Hugh Wilson made it so real and he took us and it was almost when he was directing it, the way he would do it was funnier than the way we did it. And I just developed a regard for him that was unbelievable.

I enjoy all kinds of performances and take each role differently. I keep the audiences in mind.

The theater, for me, has always been a place where I'm free to be more creative, a place to sharpen my tools.

I started doing drama after school, and it just developed into something that I did and I enjoyed very much.

I like to make people laugh. That's for sure. And I really like to humiliate myself and go very far in derision and stuff. But no, I like everything. I started a little bit of doing drama, too. I like that, too. I guess I just want to touch everything.

Nine out of 10 times these guys will hit it-they'll be on something incredibly funny, but one out of 10, two out of 10, they'll fall flat on their faces. That's what makes them great actors: they take those chances, they don't play it safe.

The whole idea with acting is that you take some risks. And if you take some risks, you're really going to mess up sometimes. But it's not OK to mess up a movie; it's not OK to do that just so you can improve as an actor. But film-making takes a little bit of risk in every department.

In a way, as an actor, you do all the preparation and then you want to forget it and just play the scene. As a director, you can't forget it because somebody will remind you that you forgot something. But you can know your plan well enough that you still have a certain amount of freedom.