George C. Wolfe Quotes

I know there are different kinds of actors, but I tend to have less effective relationships with actors who have a very private process - who really need to do lots of internal work, so that I become merely a witness until they're ready to share.

I direct as an actor. Many times, I will say, 'Let me try this.' And I'll walk the scene through and see what I can tell the actor about it. I don't know what to tell him until I've actually tried it and seen what the problem is.

I can watch movies that I've been in, and if there's an emotional scene, I remember specifically what I was using, what I was thinking about, because I am very specific in how I work.

I am a complete director's actor.

My acting style changes according to the way a character is imagined.

I'm a technician. I don't go for the get-into-the-role stuff. I read the lines and play the scenes.

As a filmmaker I find it much more rewarding to work with actors who are classically trained. It's about the work and only the work.

Fonda and Gary Cooper had the best sense of timing of all the actors I knew.

You know, I've never been much of a method actor. I feel like, with every project I go in extremely prepared and I like to have a good time.

I do think that's so much a part of what being a director is - in working with actors - to really try and be sensitive to what each actor needs to get to where he wants to be.

I didn't train in directing; I talk to actors the way I talk to anybody.

With any actor, if you know your character well enough, you'll know pretty much what he would say under any circumstance, or whatever situation might rear its head.

Guy Pearce is very precise and clear about understanding the rhythm and the music of a scene.

I try to really focus on the actors I'm working with and kind of read and respond to their behavior.

I approach directing from an actor's standpoint.

People talk about method actors, meaning someone that's prepared very, very well, or whatever they mean when they talk about it. But the right method is whatever works for you. And what works for me on any given day is going to be different.

It took me a long time to realize that you have to have a bit of an interlanguage with actors. You have to give them something that they can act with.

I love actors. I love working with actors. I really enjoy the process. I love having those in-depth discussions about the interior of their character, and actors really love to discuss that, too. I could talk about that for days with them. They love that, and I love that.

I used to ask Sean questions about acting. He's a brilliant actor, but I could never digest his information. I work primarily on an intuitive level.

I think actors always find the dialogue doesn't quite fit, so you always have to play with it.

Good acting is confused with good dialogue delivery. Acting is about all about performance, and the way we interpret and understand the character that we bring alive onscreen.

I am totally a director's actor.

Reacting is so important to the craft of acting.

In general, I don't really think too much about pacing, myself. You kind of look at each script and what each script demands.

Jeff Bridges taught me a lot about how to keep a scene fresh.