On-Set Preparation Quotes

In order to make Alma innocent and open, I had to forget that I'm stressed as an actress because I'm making a film with Paul Thomas Anderson. I had to let go of everything and hold onto the text. The language was like a rope I could cling onto and make my way blindfolded through the shooting.

You don't pay an actor to act. An actor will do that for free because we love to act. You pay an actor to wait.

Every day of the show, I'd have about 100 of those rollers all over my head, and I'd have to wear them for hours. I even went to dinner like that a few times! I swear, half of my 'Boy Meets World' pictures have me wearing rollers in them.

I always find filming stressful. I get very caught up thinking about my character - 'Am I doing it right? Should it be done this way?'

I'm one of those actors who finds the part in the wardrobe.

I am an actor, and that's the most important thing to me. I cannot imagine a life where I would be anything else but an actor, so putting all my energy into a shot comes naturally to me.

As an actor, the only pressure I have is to just be truthful and to do my best work.

When I do film, I really take on roles and I take on characters.

My make-up call as Cassie on 'Unforgotten' is 45 minutes, and on 'The Split', it's considerably longer. They have to do your hair and your make-up. On 'Unforgotten,' I'm in and out, and I don't have to worry about how I sit for the whole day so as not to crease the clothes.

There's editing, and scripts to read and edit, and casting, and all the elements of production that just sort of take up the normal downtime that you would have as an actor. So there's not a lot of that for me.

I got my dailies every day, although I couldn't always look at them because I was usually preparing for the next day's shoot, both as an actress and as the director.

For filming, we have to wear a lot more makeup than we usually would. At night, I have to go home and take off all the makeup and take my hair out from my bun and just get out of the dancewear and everything.

It is hard to be an actor on a TV show, because you don't know what's coming and you sort of find out very last minute sort of what's happening.

My experience with casting children is that... the whole movie is going to rest on their shoulders, so you have to set aside time and wait for the perfect people to appear.

In 'W,' I did not change a word in the script. I have never spoken this much in other series. I just stick to whatever is written. I always carry the script with me and read it before I sleep.

I don't rehearse films as much as opera or theatre. When I began directing films I thought a long rehearsal was a good idea. Experience showed me that the best performance was often left in a rehearsal room.

I don't think actors should have to do anything but come in and act.

We had a lot of rehearsals for the original Twilight to get the family to learn each other and experience each other, so we could all be like a family. We spent a lot of time together.

Every actor has their own process. For me, I really need to stay in the pocket. So, if I'm on set and I'm in character, I'm not thinking like a producer. If I'm on set and I'm not in character, wardrobe and make-up, and I'm just coming on set for the moments that I'm not shooting, then I'm able to be the producer.

Every single director-actor I talked to, from Warren Beatty to Clint Eastwood to George Clooney, said the biggest mistake they made is not shooting enough footage of themselves.

I have worked in films where we just put on the make-up and go in for a shoot without any discussions and even a talk with the director.

Film acting is one of the only industries where you're criticized for working hard. In any other industry, it's considered a quality and something to behold.

I'm definitely one of those actresses who comes to a set knowing how I want to do a scene, and I definitely love input from my directors and my writers.

Both 'Udaan' and 'Lootera' were largely rehearsed. With 'Trapped,' I left room for improvisation.

I had a lot of coaching for the movie and no, I have never sung professionally before.