James Norton Quotes

If I prepare myself for a character, for a role, I always try to understand her.

I do figure every angle of a guy I'm acting - but not consciously 'til afterward.

I have a journal, and every character that I play, I write as the character: how I feel about things and how I'm going to play it.

The real challenge of acting for me, I suppose, is just getting to know a character very, very well and just applying what I know about them to every single scene. That's what it can be broken down to.

I'm certainly not one of those actors who remain in a dark place the entire time in order to be doing the scene. I sort of come in and out of it. It can be to the detriment of my performance sometimes!

I try to allow the spirit of the character to live through me. That's the only way I know how to approach acting. I have to live it.

I'm a task-oriented actor. A pretender. And I try to invent my process anew each time I make a new project. So I frown on any method.

When I prepare for a role, I try to get inside the character's head and understand him.

When you're directing, I feel like I'm playing all the parts, without the make-up. I really get into the heads of the characters.

The process of acting is no different [playing human or ape]. You're embodying the character. You're creating the psychology and the physicality. You're living the moment.

When I'm writing, I try to have the mask of my character on as I'm walking through the world. When I'm not at my desk, the rest of the time, I try to stay in that character and see the world the way that character would It's almost like method acting in a way — keeping the character close the way the actor keeps a script close and always tries to be in character.

I think the ultimate goal is that when we're off-stage, we know everything our character is thinking. Hopefully when we are on-stage, our thoughts are our character's thoughts because we really know that much about them.

I never like to go out of character when filming starts. I fear that if I do, I might not be able to pick it up again.

All my roles are character roles. On the other hand, there are those people who have an inner...I think we all do the same thing. You can't get by on aura alone. That I know. Everyone has to dig in. Everyone has to do the same set of, "What is this about? What is this character doing?" Everybody from Spencer Tracy to Brad Pitt to Jeffrey Tambor.

We as actors doubt up until the last minute that we can be this person. So everything matters, the more work you do, you get in touch with who the character is.

I think you're bound to get a sense of any character that you play. It's not something you often do in comedy.

As an actor, anything that you have to help get you into character is helpful.

As an actor, I usually try and keep my motivation within the context of what the character is going through.

I'm not the kind of actor who goes into exhaustive research for each role.

I make a playlist for every character I portray. Music plays a huge part in helping me understand a character. Every time I get a new role, I will take a chunk of time to just sit and listen to a bunch of songs and select the ones that make sense in my mind for that character. I can't even explain how much it helps me.

If James Franco's wearing a costume, and I'm wearing a motion capture suit, we don't act any differently with each other because of what we're wearing. We're embodying our roles.

I'm not the kind of actor that can go completely cold into an emotional scene. I have to transport myself emotionally by whatever means possible, and that basically means you carry the situation with you all week, all episode or all day beforehand.

When I research a role it does get a little crazy and maybe even a little stupid.

Ultimately, the idea of acting is to understand the people you're playing, and then where they're coming from is not so mystifying. You've got to detox a bit after, though.

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