F. Murray Abraham Quotes

I did a lot of theater, so especially as an on-camera camera actor, there are so many things that aren't in your toolbox. They're somebody else's job. You think about editors and rhythm. Volume isn't even in your control.

Some directors cast you because they trust you to do the performance - but then they forget to direct you.

Good acting is about being as natural and calm as possible. These days producers have such definite ideas that you have to be prepared to do whatever they ask.

I always had to genuinely like the actors I worked with and use my enthusiasm and vision to give them confidence to push their creativity and their humor.

Being on a Paul Thomas Anderson film, the best decision an actor can make is to listen to Paul Thomas Anderson. Because he's probably not going to steer anyone in the wrong direction. I would always say go with your gut on any other movie set, but with Paul, I would say go with Paul's gut.

When I'm shooting, I don't care who the star is. I have an actor playing a part, and I'm serving the script, not serving anyone's career.

I think the atmosphere on set really comes from the material, but also the director.

I appreciate film actors who respect the film making process.

Elia Kazan understood my problems. He was able to bring out the very best in me. He gave me credit for my intelligence.

Directing is much more satisfying to me than acting.

When you're on set with an actor like Derek Jacobi, it's not hard to tell the truth when you're looking in his eyes, and he's so open and creative and ready to play.

Directing feels great; I'm really happy to be doing this.

More than anything else, I love to act and leave the rest to my director.

People say I pick good films. Rather, good filmmakers choose me. The directors come to me, and I thank them for their trust in me.

As a director, one of my biggest jobs is trying to see what actually works for the actor.

I never ask for a script when it comes to Subhash Ghai. I just do whatever he asks me to.

When I cast someone in a movie, I have to absolutely trust who they are as a human being. Trust is the intangible of moviemaking.

I never like to sit and discuss my character, the other character, our relationship, or anything like that. I feel like if I did my job and I trust that the other person has done theirs, you just go on set, play around with it, chew the scene for a little bit; then we roll, and that's it.

I love film because you have the last word. I never get that on stage because you've got to really believe; you've got to get the actors to trust you, and they have to believe in you, and then hopefully they will when you open the show.

You need someone who has a really good way of enabling trust in the cast and crew, or the cast particularly, to allow them the confidence to stretch themselves to get the performance that you're going to need to provide all of the emotional up and downs in the film.

In order to be able to work with somebody in acting, you've first got to think that person's a good actor before you can enjoy working with them. I guess that goes with the trust.

When I'm acting, I'm in the director's hands. I'm very happy to be. I like to be focused on what I'm doing.

Directing is kind of like acting through other people. You see moments and you see things and if you don't see the actors hit it, you paint in those little spaces and tell them what direction to go in.

When you get confidence from your director, as an actor, it is all a matter of how your director says, 'This is how much I can get out of you.'

You can't do anything to a film post its release. I concentrate on working hard, giving the required inputs for the roles, having discussions with my directors and co-stars. It isn't possible to predict the fate of any film. I don't take failures to heart and successes to my head. These are part and parcel of this career.