I take my fundamental cue from John Coltrane that says there must be a priority of integrity, honesty, decency, and mastery of craft.
I'm a director! I don't work with no amateurs!
I don't write just to be clever. But sometimes I do. And if you don't have an understanding of the language, then the way in which it's bent doesn't actually register. It's the old you-gotta-paint-like-them-before-you-can-paint-like-you thing.
The excitement does not change. After 40 years in the business, I still find the show to be a magical moment - the performance anxiety, the litmus test.
Never equate yourself with whatever success may be and how fleeting that is. The only thing you can do every day is become a better actor. That's the only thing I have control over.
The sum of all technical knowledge cannot make a master contract player.
Who is a professional? A professional is someone who has a combination of competence, confidence and belief. A water diviner is a professional. A traditional midwife is a professional. A traditional bone setter is a professional. These are professionals all over the world. You find them in any inaccessible village around the world.
Repeating my mechanics was difficult. I was always trying to do something different to make it click.
You can improve in every stage of your career, and even in training, after training, analysing your game, you can do a lot of stuff to make steps, and that's also a major point of becoming a top player.
My game has been improving as I've been working. Little things are getting better. Which, I would hope so - it's all I do every day.
I watched videos of great players. I was inspired by what they did, then I used to try things out in training.
I look to improve every time I play, whether batting or bowling.
I'm really focused on getting better as a player.
I want to stay learning and hopefully allow my craft to evolve.
Some people are so busy learning the tricks of the trade that they never learn the trade.
I get very competitive with myself and always look to better myself from my previous projects. I have learned that it's important to work on the craft than the project.
A GREAT PAINTER will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, “How did I do it?
I think it's important that your first film be your worst film, that one's life trajectory should go up.
I just have to continue to get better and continue to learn. Whatever unfolds, I want people to know I stayed a pro and performed.
I never stopped trying to improve - after 15 years of playing, I was still trying to think of something I could do better throughout the course of the year.
The future belongs to the competent. It belongs to those who are very, very good at what they do. It does not belong to the well meaning.
I think you can never be a complete player.
It's so God-given - my talent - because it took so very little time to get it down to where I was able to perform.
People still call me the eternal amateur. After all, professionals are supposed to be able to conduct everything. But I can't unless I feel some connection inside. Conducting is not an end in itself for me.
I just knew how to do the one thing I did, and whether I did it well or not depended on who the director was.
