Jeff Bridges Quotes

You can't improvise if you are tense. Or thinking too much. You have to really let it go.

When I over-prepare, I try to let it all go and forget all about it when the camera rolls, so I can just be present with the other actors and allow what's going to happen to happen without too much preconception.

When you're in the moment and not over thinking the song is when things tend to really work. You're not so focused on the minutiae. You're focused on the overall feel, and that's the stuff that I get from the demos.

There's a Zen to acting, by being in the moment. That's where the power is.

I meditate and pray before going onstage - it helps me focus.

If I'm in the middle of a take and I start to think about what I'm doing, I just mess up and I have to stop and so I find that for me, you really need to trust your instinct.

When I'm onstage, I'm not thinking about ideas. I'm not in my head at all. It's a more physical experience.

Once I'm on set, the only thing I'm really interested in is being in the room. Being present. And trusting that what I've done is sufficient, and I'm also trusting that I've also left room for magic.

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.

You have to be sharp when the camera's rolling. I want to be totally unselfconscious, like a child playing. I do as much prep as possible so I can lose myself for those seconds.

I rely on poetry or literature to keep me centered before I go onstage because it reminds me to be present.

I don't like improv at all. It terrifies me. I like to know exactly what I'm going to say. Being surprised does make me a better actor. Anytime I'm afraid of something that makes me rise to the occasion, it scares me, but it's what makes great actors - being in the moment.

Classical stuff takes a lot of rehearsal time and preparation, but with stuff that involves improvisation, you can over-rehearse it and it gets stale. You don't want it to be too comfortable. In fact, a good sound check, a good rehearsal usually means a bad performance.

When I rehearse, it ends up doing more harm than good. I think I work a little bit better when it's right off the bat. Mostly, I try to wrap my head around a role as much as I can without rehearsing and then kind of make it as fresh as possible on the day.

I don't like a lot of rehearsing.

I feel when acting, I am sometimes overly self-conscious; I think, 'Going, no, don't, put your eyebrow back where it was and, you know, turn to the left.' You know, I'm sort of very consciously adopting this character. But with music, I don't know. I found it was a question of just closing my eyes and just sort of letting things come out.

I think one of the mistakes actors make is we're so focused on what we're going to say.

It's thrilling to be onstage and to not know, literally, what the next moment is going to bring. To just submit to the not-knowing-ness of it.

There is a part of your brain that has to stop when you're acting. You have to be in the moment and dare to fly. Words can't be on your mind.

I don't think I'm sharp enough to not prepare and come on set and kill it.

I still take it seriously, but once I go out there I think I've got more relaxed and I think it shows.

I personally don't like to rehearse so much. I really sort of trust my instinct.

The funny thing is, whenever I'm working on something, I kind of forget there's a lot of people watching. It makes it easier to be in the moment and to tell a story as well as possible.

On stage, you have nothing to hide behind. It allows the work to live in a more organic place. It's almost like a meditation. You have to go on that stage and be as present as possible.

When you're auditioning, hold on loosely. Work hard on it at home, like you always do. But when you're in the room, let a choice happen to you rather than forcing a choice that's not ready to come. You'll surprise yourself and, hopefully, the people in the room.