Actor Humility Quotes

I did a couple of movies in Brazil, and the actors were incredibly congenial and hung out together a lot. Even the biggest stars would do radio commercials - they're not put on a pedestal like they are in the United States.

Neither my MFA from Yale School of Drama nor my BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University make me any different from other actors in film, television, or theatre.

The most dangerous thing for an actor is to refuse to listen to anyone else, to feel you know more than anybody.

It was never my intention to be an actor, and I don't know if I'll ever call myself an actor because I've always said that would be a slap in the face to proper actors, but it's fun, and thankfully, I've had the luxury in my adult life that anything I've done has been fun.

I have been in the industry for many years now, but people still come up to me and say, 'Sir, you're such a good actor. We loved watching you in that movie. What's your name?' While any other actor might get offended, I don't mind this at all.

If I wasn't an actor and I watched my films, I could easily be like 'This guy's a clown,' you know?

That's why I don't understand why actors become arrogant and are completely unapproachable - because as an actor, the most valuable thing you can do is talk to people and hear their stories, because it'll all come in handy.

Whenever I read a script, I start recasting the role that I might play. I'm like, 'God, this should be played by Domhnall Gleeson, not me.'

I've never done that [fighting for arole]. You hear about actors going in and saying, "You've got to let me read for this!" I've never done that. Lots of parts I've wanted and didn't get, but I think any actor would say that.

I can't actually read interviews with thesps now because they're almost always fantastically predictable, the men especially. Actors are forever stressing their ordinariness, their beer and football-loving commitments.

I love these movies where it's just about the film. You don't have my face on the poster. It's all about the movie. I like that.

I haven't even watched that many movies; I'm, like, a weird actor.

Actors are not a great breed of people, I don't think. I count myself as something of an exception. I grew up in the theater, and my values were about the work, and not being a star or anything like that. I'm not spoiled in that way, and if I fight for something, it's about the work, not about how big my trailer is.

When Gene first contacted me for 'Star Trek,' he gave me the part of Spock to read! I'm glad I didn't take it because I don't think anyone could have played Spock better than Leonard Nimoy.

Everyone knows about Amitabh Bachchan being a legendary actor, and I had this sense of arrogance that I can make him do what I want. But what he did on locations completely blew me away. I realised that I understand the quality of performances even more after seeing him perform.

These stunt guys are good at what they do and they're professional. A smart actor will step back and say, "I'm going to let the professionals do this." Hats off to those guys, man. When you see the credits scroll, look at all those stunt guys and remember all those names 'cause they earned their money on this.

Ideally, you have a company of actors who care more about the product than they do about themselves. In my experience, actors who believe the opposite - that they are the people who matter rather than the show - are rare in the extreme.

So many Irish actors overplay that modesty because they're afraid people will judge them and say, 'The state of yer man, he thinks he's great,' or whatever.

I know my limitations as an actor.