Actor Insight Quotes

I didn't really know of 'Black Lightning' until I got the script and started to investigate - it wasn't a hero that I grew up with. So I didn't know if his powers were natural or if it was the suit, but those things are, for me, very important. I really like the idea that his powers are his - that whether he has the suit or not, he has them.

You want to feel, 'I know that character.'

My role 14 years ago in Richard III - that was the first time I played a bad guy and learned a lot about it - they have all the fun!

Particularly, the actors, to have analyzed the script in great detail from the point of view of their specific character. So that they have a handle on exactly where the character is in the chronology of things. In that sense the actors become your best check on the logic of the piece, and the way in which it all fits together. They become essential collaborators. The main thing is you have to work with very smart actors.

Sometimes when you're playing a very intense character, a disturbed character, you find other layers. That's much more interesting to me, rather than just playing 'intense.' I find it too boring.

I got spoiled on 'Breaking Bad.' Playing the same guy for four or five seasons, you get to really explore who the character is.

Denzel [Washington] just knows the actor. He knows the process, and you don't often get that.

What makes characters so interesting when you're an actor or a dancer is to watch and observe how people walk and move and speak. Are they cat-like? Are they walrus-like? Why does that person bother me, and why do I think they are the way they are?

Every year or so, I try to do something; it keeps me refreshed as to what's going on in front of the lens, and I understand what the actor is going through.

It was our goal to dig into the characters and really try to find out why they think the things they think and why they do the things they do - and we got some amazingly candid and revealing interviews - but it's not my job to offer summary judgment on those interpretations.

I am always curious to sit down with the actor who's playing the part after the casting process and get to know them, get to understand their life a little bit more.

When I play a good guy, I try to explore them and figure out what shapes them and makes them interesting. When I'm playing a bad guy, I try to explore everything that makes them good. No one ever really thinks that they're a bad guy.

I watched every single Bond movie three or four times, taking in everything I could about how the character had been portrayed in the past, then threw all that away once I started doing the role.

I had to learn the image is not the word, which is a jolt for a literary soul. But it has served me well in terms of understanding plot, in terms of watching actors develop characters.

When I read a script, the important thing is that I can connect in some way with that character and have some idea from what his story is that I can tell that story too, because that's all acting is, is storytelling.

One thing I tend to do is ask actors tons and tons of questions to try to get at what they're thinking but also to expose to them whatever box they've placed their characters in - to blow up that box so the journey can begin.

When I first signed on to play Tommen, I started speculating about when he was going to die. I sort of knew he wouldn't be the last one on the throne, but Tommen doesn't really deserve to have his throat slit or his stomach jabbed. In a way, Tommen died the way he was - it was a peaceful death.

I have no medical knowledge whatsoever so playing a surgeon on 'Holby' has been a real eye opener!

When I'm reading a script and I see the word 'lumbering' I go, 'Oh, that's probably the part they want me to read for.'

When a script moves me, I find that I immediately understand a character. Of course not completely, but I do understand.

When you're creating new roles out of scratch in my opinion working with the actors is a great asset. You can learn a lot from that.

To know how a character will behave in any given situation is a necessity and a gift.

It takes awhile for writers to get to know actors rhythms, not just as actors, but what they bring to the characters. I think it takes a few episodes for the writing room to catch up to the actors and vice versa.

I like directors who have worked as actors. They know the experience.

Let me put it this way: I definitely need to understand the villains I play. The best cause pain to anesthetize themselves against their own pain.