Andre Holland Quotes

I enjoy making films, but my heart is in the stage. Every night you have to be on. There's no second take.

I try not to think about any of the production side of things. If you do, you tend to get unfocused and distracted. I just try to think about the character and the scene and what I'm doing.

It's so fun to do theater, because as opposed to television, you just keep doing it again and again and again - every night. Sometimes it lands beautifully, and sometimes it lands just beside of it. It's like throwing a horseshoe. It's great fun.

I've really grown to love film, but I think occasionally you need to get up on a stage and see what's going on.

I think is very beneficial to relax yourself so that when you are doing it you are not staggering for lines and your concentration is not on what I am going to say - but the scene itself, the character that you are talking to.

The most important part of acting is listening. So always act like you’re listening.

On film, when you're driving home from the set, you realize what you should have done, but it's too late. When you're taking the subway home from your play, you realize what you did wrong, and you go back the next night and you do it better, or you screw it up again in a different way. It's a different thing altogether.

I don't get bored at all while acting.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

I never went to stage school or anything like that. It was always plays, productions at school and things like that. The thing for me with acting was it was the only thing I could fully concentrate on. I loved playing sports. I didn't really love studying.

After I directed, when I went back to being an actor, I was like, 'God, this is the life!' Because you only have to concentrate on one thing.

When I am rehearsing for a play, I try to read nothing that might distract my concentration from the work in progress.

Where every moment is about truth and I think it's a great challenge every night. That's what really drove me to wanting to do theatre, and it's great.

I was born to do sitcoms, where you get an immediate response from the audience.

In 10 different takes, you can do a scene 10 different ways.

With a play, for me, there's no time to sit back on it. You're living on your instincts. And every night there are subtle changes and adjustments, because what's in front of you is a living, breathing audience.

I would rather play Hamlet with no rehearsal than TV golf.

I like the detail work of telling a story in small pieces, as is done in movie-making, and also the long leap of faith needed to see a theatre performance through each night. Both require focus and self-discipline.

It's a tremendous feeling walking on to a set with a live audience and making them laugh, but I love drama, and I love drama where there's the ability to bring comedy into it because in a lot of tragic circumstances in life there is comedy to be had.

When I attack a role, be it TV, film or stage, the first thing I say is, I don't want to know anything. If it's good I don't want to hear it; if it's bad I don't want to hear it. The only thing either thing can do is distract me. I like to stay focused.

I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have to know where the lens is, what the shot is, and where you're moving. And then you have to trick yourself into an emotional state where you believe this stuff is actually happening.

Being onstage is like being rock star. Whereas if you're doing a movie, it's such a confined space. You know, you do a comedy, it's so hard, too, 'cause with a comedy, there's no vocal reaction, there's no energy that you get back that spurs you on to be funnier because everyone has to be quiet.

Going to the theater or having the honor of performing in theater reminds you of your humanity in a very different way. It's a real release and an incredible challenge. But the stage is a dangerous place. You gotta be trained. Plus, crowds like when things go wrong. I think that's part of the thrill. Anything can happen.

People prefer doing films. That is not the case with me. I don't do theatre because I have to but because it makes me feel alive. I enjoy the whole process of rehearsing, though repetition can make it tedious.

I would take plays and I would cut out all the other dialogue and make long monologues because I felt the other kids weren't taking it as seriously as I did.