There is nothing better than playing a bad girl for two months, then turning around and playing someone sweet. Films give you this opportunity.
I was curious. Here was a character where I just didn't know how they were going to write him into 13 episodes without it being one note. My fear was that I didn't want to join something where I was just going to be this prop and this mustache twirling character.
What's fun about doing a series is you get to take some time to create the character.
Loving movies myself, I know when I see a film with someone with a strong persona, it's hard to overlay another character on top of that.
When you have really good writing, you're compelled by the actors who are in it, and you may think it's the actors or the design or the filmmaking of it, but then you're like, 'Well, the base is a really rich story that these guys have created.'
I watched season four of 'The Wire.' They have subtle performances that they do through their eyes. You could watch season four with the audio off and still understand what's happening through their eyes.
As actors, you don't actually need to know the future of the character. You just need to know the backgrounds.
Casting is storytelling.
You can't just tell actors, especially young ones, to 'act happy' and expect them to do it. They must in some essential way be happy.
I don't do issue writing. I do character writing.
Our dream as actors is to tell interesting stories about interesting people.
I do a lot better if I sit around and think about a character for a couple of months.
There is such a thing as my kind of actor, and how well they pull off my dialogue is a very, very important part of it.
You're living with these characters for years and years, you need to have a lock on who they are as people, what they like, what they don't like, what they experience, and what they go through.
I'd like to be in anything that tells a good story and has an interesting character.
While problems in a film are fairly easy to identify, the sources of those problems are often extraordinarily difficult to assess. A mystifying plot twist or a less-than-credible change of heart in our main character is often caused by subtle underlying issues elsewhere in the story.
I don't know acting, but I choose good stories and portray emotions according to the story.
To be an actor, a true actor, you have to be brokenhearted.
I love to tell stories. It's a delight for me.
Ryan is Deadpool. Look, Ryan Reynolds, he's gone through that same career arc; the guy is ridiculously talented. He has a huge, huge passion for 'Deadpool.'
My job as an actor is to live the role that I do.
If I ever wrote a script myself, it would be strongly emotional material.
A film that I love is 'Deliverance' from back in the day. You start out with these archetypal characters - the hero, the bookworm, the pacifist - and by the end, it's all turned upside down. I love that.
When I create characters, I create a world to inhabit and they begin to feel very real for me. I don't belong in a psych ward, I don't think, but they become very real, like my own family, and then I have to say goodbye, close the door, and work on other things.
There are some similarities, I think, with all the characters I play. I'm not a guy who sees the desire to transform with each part; I'm not a piece of clay.
