Emma Donoghue Quotes

I don't act in the way other actresses act, in terms of building or creating a character. I don't transform myself into the role, I invest myself in the role.

My ambition is to become one of those actresses that is like a chameleon that you don't recognize.

I'm always happier and a better actor when I can really lose myself in a character and become somebody else.

I've heard of actors like De Niro and Streep who stay in character all day long. And Daniel Day-Lewis did it for 'My Left Foot.' I don't do that myself.

As an actor, I think it's always important to separate yourself from your characters because, when you include yourself in a character, you're taking a liberty that you don't really have unless you're life is that incredibly close to the character.

I can write for any magazine now, in any voice. I can do it in two hours, I could do it in my sleep, it's like writing a grocery list.

I spent lunchtime in a grave during the filming of 'Bloody Mama.' When you're younger, you feel that's what you need to do to help you stay in character. When you get older, you become more confident and less intense about it - and you can achieve the same effect.

I am so used to being up on stage and talking to my fans that it's strange to be on stage and be someone else. I can't look at the audience during 'In the Heights' or I will start talking to them.

I'm an actor, in particular, that likes to have a mask or something that can help me distance myself from the character. Like the moustache or an accent.

I don't have a style. I just try to write what the story demands.

Every actor has their own process. For me, I really need to stay in the pocket. So, if I'm on set and I'm in character, I'm not thinking like a producer. If I'm on set and I'm not in character, wardrobe and make-up, and I'm just coming on set for the moments that I'm not shooting, then I'm able to be the producer.

Usually I'm frustrated when I look at my films and I don't believe that I've made a real transformation beyond my usual sets of gestures and expressions. I still have this nagging feeling that it's me, that I didn't create a unique character.

I never act my characters - I am them.

If you think about what acting is supposed to be, my job is to disappear.

Sometimes when you're acting, you only need a little bit of something to sort of channel or, you know, transport into a place.

When I act, a part of me goes into the character I am playing.

I think substitution is a huge part of acting, but I don't personalise my work that much.

To disappear your complete self into a character is quite difficult. I've tried it 85 times, and I've succeeded two or three times.

I admire actors that consistently challenge themselves and play a wide range of different roles. Every actor has a reason for being an actor... it's boring to play the same person over and over again. People like Daniel Day Lewis, who completely transform time and time again, I look up to.

There's a lot of romanticisation of the intuitive actor and method acting and all kinds of notions about getting inside a character and coming out from there.

I know, because I tried all sorts of ways of being in character, and the best way is to be totally straight.

The only way I can be there and really get into the character is if I'm her.

You have to believe that you are the character or the thing or whatever the hell you're playing.

I think it is very important to be a method actor.

It was amazing that during rehearsals, without any of the costume on, the character was there complete. It just happened. Half the time, I didn't know I was doing it.