Janet McTeer Quotes

I think that different actors go about their preparation differently, but when it comes to acting, I use my imagination.

I just love the process of working with other actors.

Everything, I think, about acting is based on imagination.

On paper, actors are the dumbest group of individuals essentially out there. Most of us have not gone to college. However, we never stop learning. Because of what we do, we're constantly researching, constantly learning.

When it comes to the acting stuff, I like to show up for a couple days and kind of be outrageous and silly, and go back to my day job.

For me, acting is play. It's just play and it's playing make believe really, really well.

As an actor, I love working with directors. As much as I love working with other actors.

Writing and directing might be a red herring, and really I'm just re-examining what it is to act, to do it well and do it properly.

To be able to work with actors who are doing such good work, not only makes it easier for you, but it makes you better.

My only qualifications to be an actor were that I'm daring, and I'm a quick learner. I've always learnt by watching what other people do. It's the same with my writing. I write what I know. Structurally, I write in a very undisciplined way.

As an actor, you have to be open to doing things where you look stupid, to be experimental.

Improv is a very big thing for me. The thing with actors is I do not understand at all how they do what they do. I'm fascinated by it, and I have such a respect for it.

Know your lines; otherwise, have an open mind because you want to get lost in the moment. When you have talented actors and directors to work with, then it's pretty easy to do.

There's no great mystery to acting. It's a very simple thing to do but you have to work hard at it. It's about asking questions and using your imagination.

I like the idea of acting. Of all these things I've done, sometimes I think I've done well, and sometimes I think I didn't do well, but they are more cameos, and I come in and be crazy.

A lot of actors and actresses pull from past experiences.

As an actor, the only thing you have is your instinct and your imagination.

I had never really thought about acting as art. You know, growing up in Youngstown, the Rust Belt of the world, it was always just a form of entertainment. Finally seeing it as an art form, I fell in love with it. So I moved out to California, never having visited before.

For any role, I pretty much always go to the script, first and foremost.

I'm the sort of actor who likes to talk about what we're going to do.

Acting is a very artistic profession and there are thousands of people out there who think they are actors but there are very few who have real talent.

As an actor, my main focus is finding good writing and attacking a good role.

Some actors get by with behaving, not acting. You've got to sell the effect. I act more in the 'Nightmare' movies because it's not like me. I'm acting, not reacting.

Part of the fun of acting is the research, finding out about other people.

I'm not the kind of actor that would know what my character had for breakfast last Tuesday.