I think it makes such a huge difference when the director has acting experience as well because it just means that he not only has a view of the film as a whole and the intentions of the scene in terms of the audience, he also has an actor's instinct of how to communicate something to us.
My nursery school did a production of 'The Three Little Pigs.' I played the third pig. When the wolf knocked on my door, I refused to get up and answer it because, to me, he was knocking the wrong way. I just lay there, snoring away on stage, fully immersed in my character. My dad turned to my mom and said: 'Dustin Hoffman.'
Jack Nicholson is a textbook actor who's very intuitive. He is absolutely brilliant at going as far as you can go, always pushing to the edge, but still making it seem real.
From an acting standpoint, you've got to continue to trust your gut because, ultimately, only that will result in a better product, making the audience more happy and resulting in the right payoff.
Something just happens when you read a part. You know, if you'd like to do it or if you don't believe it.
You know when you've found a part that you want to play. You know it because the part takes you over. It sits in the script waiting for you to play him.
In the eighth grade I found I had a voice for opera, so I followed that path a little, but my impulse has always been an actor. I have always liked cinema, and let's face it, opera singers are just bad actors! I didn't want to translate myself in that direction.
We didn't have a lot of time to really prepare for a great chemistry. It was more instantaneous and instinctive. In the morning I went to Daniel Craig trailer and if I wanted to make some changes there was sort of a go between me and the director. It was good because Daniel is always like, "C'mon let's go for it. Let's fight for it!"
Elijah can register such subtle emotion on his face that I loved doing close-ups on him. He really brings a superb emotional level to Frodo's scenes and although he is a very instinctive actor, we discussed the character thoroughly.
I'm not an instinctive actor.
The other, the other aspect when I say I'm an actor is that as an actor you make this imaginative leap into being somebody else, that's to say the muscle of the imagination is as important as any other of the muscles in your body, and so it is something about this instinct in space and time which for me I associate with being an actor rather than a director.
Generally my instinct is to not do biographical movies. I want to build characters and not be locked into playing a part in history.
My primary instinct as an actor is not the big transformation. It's thrilling if a performer can do that well, but that's not me. Often with actors, it's a case of witnessing a big party piece but wondering afterwards, where's the substance?
You have to trust your instincts. There is a moment when an actor has it, and he knows it.
A script narration is like watching a film, and I react to it like an audience with my own instinct. After that, I look for what is my character, what will I bring to the table in that role, how challenging will it be.
I certainly think, obviously, rhythm is a huge part of being an actor. It just is unconscious, to a degree, but particularly in comedy, rhythm is pretty essential, and there's probably something more physiological going on.
My tendency as an actor is, when there's a certain energy, I feel a challenge to match it, to come up to that plate and play on the same level.
Of all the stars whom I worked with, I think Steve knew better what worked for him on the screen than any other. He had such a sense of what he could register, and that helped a lot in terms of shaping the character and the script.
I don't really have a method or a technical process. I studied [Sanford] Meisner, and that's the thing that really works for me. That sort of instinctual, in the moment, what the other actors do, working off them and letting the story unfold, as opposed to having an idea of what the story should be.
I feel I do not have script sense. Like Kartik Aaryan has a very good script sense.
The thing about Brando was that I'd make these directions, and he'd walk away. He'd heard enough... to get the machine going.
If you're cast right you can actually just let yourself go because all your gestures will be right, all your intonations will be right because you just somewhere understand who this person is.
I've been fortunate that the roles I've auditioned for, I auditioned because I felt I was the right actor to play that part.
I like to learn the lines and not get any precontrived things in my head about the part. Just get on stage and see what the other actors are doing, and respond to them as honestly as I can.
It's quite quick for me to know if I want to play a character or not.
