Aja Naomi King Quotes

Practice makes an actor excel. It is like cycling and motor driving. It is an art, which can be learnt and practised.

You can't learn how to act; you can only really learn it through experience and practice and really finding what your voice is and what you want to be as an actor.

My acting range has always been something between the two extremes of 'raises left eyebrow' and 'raises right eyebrow.'

Do theater. Because you'll develop a craft that you'll always have. It'll give you a chance to really learn how to act and you won't go into the world with a few measly tricks that will only carry you so far.

The trick to acting is not to show off; it's to think the thoughts of the character. I was lucky because when I started acting, it was doing jobs above pubs. I learned to act in anonymity, so by the time people saw me, I knew what I was doing. I was crap for years, but no one saw me being crap. It's a trade you learn.

I recommend doing some sort of acting class, something that can eventually get you in front of an agent or a manager, and practice is very important.

I find that the acting's getting easier - with experience, everything is more instinctual.

As an actor, you want as much variety as you can muster up. Otherwise you just keep playing the same chord over and over again.

As an actor, you have got to learn your job as thoroughly as you can. If you know your job, then there's nothing that can stop you. Because the bottom line is that only good actors will get work.

I'm taking my time with the acting and learning as I go.

I loved the idea that acting was something you could develop into slowly; something you could study.

I personally take cues directly from the script, then I like to surprise the other actors. But you must maintain control on a level and see how far you can go up, down or out emotionally. You have to balance the craft with spontaneity.

There's acting, and then there's auditioning; mastering auditioning is sort of the first thing an actor really needs to nail down when he or she wants to get a part.

When I was a little younger, I realized acting is a wonderful craft, and it's wonderful when you are working.

I consider myself a novice film actor.

I think the first thing is don't give up. If you love the craft. If you love being a detective and discovering who a character is and the detail of how they walk and what kind of shoes they wear and what did they do yesterday and what's important to them. I definitely advise actors to learn about the craft.

Well, all I can say is thank goodness I had 15 years of theater before ever I did film roles. You build technique that you can rely on.

The main thing is the ability to control your instrument, which, in the actor, is yourself. Look the way you want the character to look. Sound the way you want the character to sound. Once you've trained the instrument to do what you want, you're in control, and you're free.

I think you have to be careful not to do too much as yourself. Otherwise you stop getting the acting roles, and at the end of the day that's what I love.

Most actors spend a lot of time training themselves to be an actor. And I kind of didn't do that. I just started doin' it in front of an audience and had to deliver.

I would absolutely recommend for actors to start in the theater because it establishes a foundation in your craft that you can build off of.

I think people who are regarded as better actors must have better instincts because, at the end of the day, once they say 'action,' it's you who has to do it right. You can do all the research and preparation or none at all, but it's your instincts that tell you, 'No, I'll do it like this.'

I think some people in their 20s really get it, that acting is about creativity and the work. They get their maturity from their work.

The goal is always just trying to stretch yourself as an actor.

It's very good for me to remember what actors go through.