John Hillcoat Quotes

I love working with ensemble groups of actors.

With acting, it's like you form chemistry with different people in different ways, so it's really added even more fun to work, you know?

The thing is that, they all had real strong personalities and real distinct identities, and I don't find most of the groups that are coming out now really do.

When I was an actor, I was part of a team, which I loved. You are a part inside something which is larger.

You want to mix acting styles correctly. People approach the work in different ways. You want to make sure no one wants to kill each other because the approach is different.

The actors have to be able to feed each other and inspire each other.

I came from drama school, and it's a group of 18 people working together in every single production and splitting up the roles for three years, so I am very much about the team.

I like collaborating with actors. I love finding that moment where it all comes together.

If acting with other people is in your plans, then you need to learn how to work with other people to build a comedic premise.

An actor entering through the door, you've got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you've got a situation.

But things can happen in a band, or any type of collaboration, that would not otherwise happen.

I'm just looking for really good projects with varying characters - ones I haven't done before - so I can continue to grow as an actress.

When you're in a band, it's like everyone's the CEO, and anyone could destroy it at any moment.

The hardest job is getting personalities to mesh.

Everybody does their homework, and we all come together and just knock it out. There are adjustments to make, and if you have actors who are collaborators and who really know how to listen and be in the scene together, than it works out beautifully.

Scorsese is a fan of improv and is always pushing actors to think up something that would make the scene more fun. He loves any idea that helps the scene be alive.

Fleetwood Mac was one big lesson in adaptation for me. There were five very different personalities, and I suppose that made it great for a while.

When you play on a team, you learn that there will always be five guys you like, a bunch of guys who are OK, and five you despise. The trick to getting along in any system is not to worry about the five you despise.

I've never really been too fussed about the kind of teammate I have.

I think, coming from an improv/sketch background, I'm just used to having people around me to feed off of and support.

There must be some tensions in a team, which you can't always wipe away or smooth over.

In acting, one should look at the film in totality. Improvisations should only be made keeping in mind the limits of a character. Always believe in team work.

In my solo series, I feel like I've often dealt with groups of people.

It's highly collaborative, musical theater, so everybody has got to somehow get along.

Actors have their own processes, and if you want to be respectful of their process, you've got to communicate with them in the language of their process, and keeping that all straight is a little bit of a head-scratcher.