Ensemble Acting Quotes

What attracted to me about it was the cast. Working on 'New Girl' - I like working with an ensemble.

You cannot judge the performance of an actor in isolation. A performance becomes good because of so many factors, including the other actors.

I've done a lot of ensemble work, and I like that.

I think the key that differentiates the good actors from the mediocre ones that are still trying to come up, is that the good ones know how to listen. It's like being in a jazz band. They know how to listen to what the other musicians are playing. And where to come in and where to sit out. That's my approach to being in an ensemble cast and working with any kind of actors in a scene.

I have worked alone and with a cast and enjoy the process both ways. There is more back-and-forth with a full cast, and you can feed off the other actors' performance.

'Nicholas Nickleby' was the best example, where 43 people could make an audience of 1,500 look at a fingernail at any given moment. It was so controlled, and yet it was a group of disparate individuals. It was a happy, constructive time, and it seemed to be an active discussion of what makes the theater work.

It's a lot harder to do an ensemble because your energy is going in so many different places, and you have to cover everybody. You have to sort of split your attention.

I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get out of here! Any minute the building will explode!' And then the reader says: "Yes...we have to get... out of here." So it's not easy to be in the moment in that kind of situation. Reading with the entire cast in the room for The Clone Wars makes the experience much more organic and I love that.

In the kind of films that I do, there is an extremely limited number of people that can improvise. The reason the ensemble continues in the movies is because those are the people that can do that kind of work. It's not just an accident those people are in the film.

I've always been very interested in ensemble work. One reason why I don't go out and do a stand-up act is that I did it once and I found it unsatisfying. I don't really like being out there by myself. I like reacting with other people.

With a role like Hedda Gabler, which is incredibly complicated, you often feel that you haven't even scratched the surface the first time around, so you relish the opportunity to do it again, particularly with an ensemble of actors and the company we assembled. But when you do that in films you somehow have to make some attempt to uncross people's arms and you have to justify why you're doing it.

acting is a wild ride, shared in the company of other actors.

I want actors. I want to be with other people. I don't wanna be alone, because of the connection when you're in a room, in a scene with someone, and it comes to life. You feel like the moment is something magic.

You do get into a groove, which is great, when you get to act with the same people a lot. Like with Caroline Catz - it's like a duet: you're like a duo jamming together.

I've always thought that when anyone receives an award for acting they should always thank their fellow actors, because the only way you're going to deliver your best performance is when you have other good actors on the set supporting you and being very present for you even when the camera is not on them.

The large ensemble cast and the fact that it was being shot in New York, combined with a lot of strong positive images as far as African Americans are concerned, really turned me on to The Best Man.

Theatre is such a joy because it's a group effort. Everyone has to move in tandem. It was lovely to be able to carry that over into 'Barry.'

Lead roles are fun, but I'm especially happy other, more colorful supporting stuff has come along.

It is very hard to cast a number of plays adequately from the same company of actors without several parts being miscast.

Working on 'Downton Abbey' is amazing, but there's an ensemble cast of between 18 and 21 actors. With 'Love Life,' there are two couples and a few other key characters. As a smaller unit, you've got to take more responsibility - at the same time, you can have more ownership of the direction it's going in.

I was born a character actor. I was never really a leading man type.

We both [me and Eugene Levy] come from the same place. Eugene did most of his work in SCTV and ensemble situations. I'd done all this theater work before I got into movies and ensemble situations. We both learned how to develop characters and interact with other people in a unique and economic sort of way.

The great actors we had came from the actor-manager theaters. Not only did they create a team, they were the generals working with the soldiers.

In spite of my great admiration for individual splendid talents I do not accept the star system. Collective creative effort is the root of our kind of art. That requires ensemble acting and whoever mars that ensemble is committing a crime not only against his comrades but also against the very art of which he is the servant.

The Emmy should be an ensemble award, too. I kept howling at everyone else's performances.