Actor Development Quotes

I had many, many mentors that I worked with. Music teachers, choir directors, directors in summer stock or in regional theater. You know, people I was able to work with repeatedly and learn from who were really sort of appropriate people for me to work with at a given time in my development as an actor.

I think it's my job as a young actor to watch adult actors and take tips on the way they work.

I don't know, as long as I get to evolve and grow as an actor and as a person, that's the stuff I'm after.

Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, seeing shows from the wings.

I'm very used to working with first time actors - you can just look back at 'E.T.' with Drew Barrymore, and Christian Bale from 'Empire of the Sun,' who'd never made a movie before.

I don't care about the image I have. What matters to me is that with every film, I am growing more and more as an actor, pushing and challenging myself.

As a director you want to have actors, not only surpassing themselves, but also going somewhere, going different places.

I thought acting was all about natural instinct but I've realised, through working with so many talented actors on 'Wild Swans' and 'Run,' that I can see the training. That's why I am back at drama school.

I think I have grown as a better actor, I have learnt more about people and professionalism.

There are a handful of actors who sustain interest because it's exciting to watch them get better at what they do. I want to be one of those actors.

I love any kind of acting, so if I could focus on becoming the best actor I can strictly on my voice, I would love that.

Good actors I've worked with all started out making faces in a mirror, and you keep making faces all your life.

The process of doing plays will make you an actor.

Alan Ball, he's good at challenging his actors, I'll say that.

The best way to study to be an actor is to interact genuinely with the people around you and observe and listen.

The goal as an actor is to constantly surround yourself with amazing artists who challenge you and make you grow.

I still consider myself a young actor, I'm 34; I still view it as the beginning of my career. You can get infatuated with acting in a way that makes you less an actor than an acting appreciator.

Actors don't make a project; a project makes the actors.

To become a better actor, one needs to look inwards and understand oneself better. Then, you can create magic on screen.

'Community' was a very important part of my growth as an actor. I see it as my acting school, not having a lot of formal acting training.

Theater is like going to the gym for actors.

It's important for an actor to feel like they're really being watched and to receive feedback and encouragement about the aspects of what they're doing that feels truthful - and also to raise awareness when they might be resorting to habits and tricks, which every actor has.

Even great actors have to polish their skills and rejuvenate.

We have no companies now, not in the sense that I know, that nurture actors. It's very depressing that, given the money they get, the companies today don't number up in my estimation. They should be bringing on young talent, and they don't.

I went to Second City, where you learned to make the other actor look good so you looked good and National Lampoon, where you had to create everything out of nothing, and SNL, where you couldn't make any mistakes, and you learned what collaboration was.