On the Spot Decision Making Quotes

You gotta improvise in life. You gotta improv if the police pull you over.

I respond in the moment which is what makes me a good actor.

I've never really prided myself as being quick on my feet. Maybe you've had the experience where somebody's asked you a question and you give an answer, then later in the day you think, "Oh, I wish I'd said that!" I tend to journal these things and put the answers in sermons.

That's one thing I never had to do on a Mike Bay set is sit around and pontificate about the next scene; there's no time for it. You're already in the next scene.

When I'm working in television, I've learned you've got to work fast. You don't have time to rehearse; you don't have time to just mess around. You've got to move quickly. So I pick that up from that world, and I also pick up the idea of development of character and development of situations.

If someone suddenly lost their director the day before shooting and wanted me to step in, I'd be willing to. But I'd do brain surgery the same way. I'm always up for something new.

I can't know what I'm going to do before I'm in front of the lens. And I think that sort of makes it exciting.

Moderating a debate means spending more time with briefing books than with your children. It means writing and rewriting and rephrasing. It means finding a way to be alert enough to notice when your question goes unanswered and nimble enough to decide what you will do about that on the spot.

I sort of go with the flow of what's happening on the set.

That's what makes live TV exciting - the unknown!

I love to be in the position of not knowing what I'm gonna do, but having rehearsed all of those so when something happens with the others actors I go with whatever that is I'm getting.

We just said, 'Okay, you're in the movie. Bring what you would bring for a three-day weekend and I hope you like the way you look in it because once you're on camera, that's your wardrobe.' But it worked; it worked and we were very surprised.

Well, television is grueling. The hours are grueling, it's hard work, and there's a lot of pressure to get it done without a lot of rehearsal time.

There is no facet of my professional life that doesn't require or request improvisation.

I don't work with a lot of preparation. I think very well on my feet, and I'm very good when the pressure is on.

I auditioned for a one-act version of 'The Princess and the Pea' called 'The Ugly Duckling,' and I was cast as the King, starting a pattern of being cast in roles originally intended for men. I went to the first rehearsal, and I didn't get any laughs, and I choked and I quit. I walked away from it and joined the tennis team.

Network shows shoot so fast, so you kind of have to just go with your instinct.

I'm just sort of making it up as I go along.

You and I and everybody in show business and the entertainment industry fly by the seat of our pants. We don't know quite what is going to happen.

Live television is just like competing on live TV. You're never going to be perfect. You just try to prepare the best that you can and execute the best that you can and try to be in the moment.

With directing, it's all out there, in the moment and in real-time. The pressure and all of the eyes are on you, and you've gotta do it. That is the place that made me nervous.

There's something wrong - the performance, the weather, the set design, the lighting. Something is not working. And so you say, "Give me 10 minutes." When you're first directing, you're terrified. But when you've been in that situation enough times, you know that under pressure, it will come to you.

Well, like any time you're shooting documentary stuff, you've got to be in the moment, and you've got to be able to be in control enough to capture what's happening.

I love to think on my feet, and I love to be able to feel from a close proximity how things are going.

I'm a sort of in the moment, good on my feet kind of person.