Edge Quotes

I know it might seem a little superficial, but every actor has their thing. Some people focus on the walk, but for me, it's all about the nails and the voice. Those are the two most important things.

Quiet people, people who aren't given to emotional outbursts, people who are economic with words - they're also fun to play, but you find yourself needing a laser precision in those roles. Otherwise you just sort of stand around, looking slightly brain-dead. You worry about being uninteresting.

When you think about Broadway, you think broad and big, but the fact is there are so many plays that are very intimate, but fill a 1,500-seat house. Plays like 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' have deep moments of silence and intimacy to them.

It's well done if you can do a part and not have the acting show.

I learnt to keep my acting subtle.

Going on stage and transcending the audience and becoming this otherworldly thing makes you a dancer. It's not so black and white.

The youngsters coming up now just go through the motions necessary to make the play. They should bounce around a little, show some life and zip. It adds a little action and gives the fans something to look at rather than the monotonous routine, no matter how perfectly the play is made.

I studied with Stella Adler and I didn't like the representational aspect of most opera singers. Most of the opera singers had not a false, but over theatrical way of presenting.

I think there is no better training than being onstage because here's the thing: the theater requires you to act with your whole body. I think acting with your whole body gives you a root, and you can build from there.

My preference is for people who come to rehearsal and get into the ring. I like a muscular actor who's playful.

What you wear onstage is a reflection of your artistry.

The Guthrie Theater is a beast. It has 1,300 seats, and I couldn't act there. I always felt I was acting too small. I'd always have to fight to get the gumption to act bigger. There's a weird trick to it. You don't want to overwhelm the first six rows. You don't want to starve the back. I could never get it.

The practice of pumping up before the scene, especially if you've got your shirt off, most actors will do that.

There is nothing, not a thing, like the process of creating a character for the stage - you can't get it anywhere else. Unless you're totally method and spend six months living your life like your character for a film, the theater is the place to get that intense acting experience.

Theater is such its own living, breathing animal. You do a show every night, but it's different every night. Being on stage, you're experiencing a journey.

Some characters need to be more performance-orientated; some, you have to be still.

My No. 1 piece of advice, especially for someone who's an actor-singer-dancer - a triple threat, they're called! - people say, 'What's the most important?' I always say acting. Without knowing why you're singing or what you're singing about, it's just noise. And without knowing why you're moving your body, it's just flailing of arms.

Ultimately, we're actors: I'm putting on a costume, so we're playing pretend.

Maybe it's a personality thing individual to me, but actors always benefit from body awareness.

No matter what you're doing, whether it's a makeup tutorial or an interview or a lip sync, performance is the essence of drag. It is gender performance. Being able to produce a performance is what a superstar has to do.

To be a good actor, you need to be able to emote with your body.

As an actor, you are either emulating someone else, or some version of yourself.

Sometimes you go to a show, and you see someone and think they're not there right now. They're performing, but it's muscle memory. There is no memorising some of the ways we put on a show.

On stage, I like to dress up a bit. I'm not scared to be like a character up there.

The connect that I have with the audience comes from my hard work and sincerity towards my craft and also because of the opportunities that I have had. I have been able to engage with my audiences. They observe my performances minutely. They think I will do some magic on screen. They like me because I don't do over-the-top acting.