Performance Direction Quotes

To have the privileged position of being the guy who is responsible for shaping the entire experience for an audience as opposed to being just one instrument in that orchestra, being an actor, it's all-encompassing.

I'd like to be a director who gives my actors complete freedom while collaborating with them to find performances.

Great art direction is NOT the same thing as great film direction!

With movies, so much of it is, 'Who is the human being that is going to be directing it?' Because it is their medium. In a way, you are serving the director, and when it is someone that you feel you can have a lot of confidence in, it can make a big difference.

Any time I approach a scene, it's not just what's on the page - it's how the camera's going to show or not show what's on the page. It's which character are we going to align with and what music is going to be playing.

I don't think it's necessary to be an actor to get great performances out of an actor. But I do think it helps me as a director because I know what I like as an actor, and I try to get that to the actors who I'm working with.

Acting isn't always about the amount of talent you have, or your ability to cry on command. The point is, how well can you take direction? How well can you put aside your own ideas or ego and listen to the ideas of the director and the people above you, while not giving up the passion and drive of that character?

Directors sometimes have good ideas that I wished I'd had, not on rewriting but simply on staging.

In the theater, you didn't have any marks. Your instincts in rehearsal told you what the blocking was. On film, they reversed it. They decided ahead of time what your instincts were, before you even arrived.

I'll say this: I think from a directing standpoint, 'Loving' is my most accomplished film. Strictly from a technical, directing point of view.

I choose my actors well and get to know the quirks of their personalities - and, most of all, I share humor with them. Then I keep my eyes open when they rehearse and perform, because you never know where the next stimulation comes from.

We love the idea of really putting on a show. It's not just a band playing on the stage. There's a theatrical element to what's going on.

I'm a big believer in keeping the stage directions really tight.

Honestly, one of my favorite things about a director is when they understand what an actor brings to their role.

Usually, those people don't even like actors and they can't wait until they get in the cutting room. They kind of break down in categories: directors who like to be surprised and some of them abhor being surprised. As far as directing, we all direct when we're acting in movies... every single one of us.

My job is really to... everyone is reading the script, and my job is to make sure we all interpret it in as much the same way as possible. And then I give them the freedom to sort of - to get their performance across and then make suggestions where things are not working and accentuate and push things where they really are working.

I love directing. It's something I started doing in theatre when I was in university in Chicago and I started a theatre company right out of college and was directing for many years.

As an actor, we can only do what the director wants. Only the director has a vision of the entire film.

Coaching a football player is the same as directing an actor. The guy has to follow orders and be able to perform skillfully.

The difference between one writer and the other, or one director and the other, is the way he deals with a scene.

Directors are the fulcrum of the movie. They guide us well, not merely rein actors in. Whenever we stray, they bring us back on track.

When I gave a direction to an actor in the show, I know their whole journey better than a guest director could know it.

It's natural for any actor that segues into directing to be an actor's director. You know how to relate to the actors.

My two great loves when I'm shooting are working with great actors and composing images.

I've been aware of the work I do as an actor being directorial in feel.