Matthew James Thomas Quotes

The thing about theater that always and still kind of makes me edgy is that you work and work and work and work, and then you're just in performance mode, and then you have to just be on; the work is done, and then you just have to do it over and over again, so you're just constantly at that performance level.

You've got to perform in a role hundreds of times. In keeping it fresh one can become a large, madly humming, demented refrigerator.

Just say the lines and don't trip over the furniture.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

The hardest part of acting is not when I'm acting, It's when I'm not.

I've directed a couple of times in the theater, but I wouldn't make a habit of it because it's too consuming.

So much of performing is a mind game. You're memorizing thousands of notes, and if you start thinking about it in the wrong way, everything can blow up in your face.

Know your lines and don't bump into the furniture.

I don't think I'm sharp enough to not prepare and come on set and kill it.

Acting can be very solitary, even if you're in a scene with someone else, because you worry about your own performance and if you look good.

People don't understand the analogy of football and acting, but there's a great deal of it that's the same. You get dressed in the room, and you think you've got it all prepared, and later on in the game you wish you had put on more pads 'cause they're just kicking the hell out of you. God almighty, I've been beat up by the best.

Playing basketball is second nature to me; acting I found far more challenging.

We are professional footballers. How to cope with the pressure is one of the things we have to learn.

When you act you realise acting is not that difficult - the other technicalities are, like the mark, angle, light, etc. So you just not have to memorise your lines but keep in mind the mark, the angle and light. It is difficult.

I don't really put too much pressure on myself. The only time people feel pressure is when they put it on themselves and listen to the outside stuff. I have great teammates and great coaches that do the right things around me that allows me to just focus on the game of football.

Giving auditions is a great exercise. They will provide you with a script, and you prepare in 10 minutes. And you perform in front of 100 other people.

I talked to friends who are actors and who do Shakespeare loads, and they all said 'learn it so that your family wants to clobber you, they're so bored.' You can never relax, that's the problem, because when you do, a bit of Shakespeare comes up to bite your cheeky behind. It just does, if you're not really focused on it.

I don't have a good memory, so learning all the songs for my TV performances was a real challenge.

I find that I get nervous before I play. Even sound checks can give me anxiety and screw with my mind. But as long as I can play a little acoustic guitar backstage if I'm feeling nervous, so I don't have to walk in there cold turkey, I'll be fine.

My strength lies in prepping. I'm not someone who can just walk onto the set and perform.

When I played for Arsenal, like once per month, you always had this feeling you had to perform.

Learning to be your natural self in front of five cameras and a silent studio takes time. Trying to be funny under duress is probably a lot like trying to play golf relaxed under pressure.

I think there are a lot of actors who are excellent at cold reads, and they go to an audition, and they read the part and nail it, but then when it comes to the performance, they don't have something.

The toughest thing for me is doing on-camera stuff as a comedian.

I don't do much relaxing. When I'm not giving a recital I practise.