portraying real people Quotes

Playing a real person, it does add an extra level of thoughtfulness. You're portraying someone who actually existed, so instead of saying, like, 'OK, I think this would make the scene better,' it's more a question of, 'What do I think the real Jeffrey Dahmer would do?'

There's something very cool as an actor when you have an opportunity to play somebody who's real, whether they're still alive or not, but who has lived a life.

Generally my instinct is to not do biographical movies. I want to build characters and not be locked into playing a part in history.

When you play a character that exists or existed, there's a stronger responsibility that you have. You owe that person and then you owe the family, you owe history, you owe the victims, the victims' families.

I love playing real people. It's a huge challenge and responsibility which I take on board and which I relish. It also scares me to death. Give me a totally fictional character and I don't have the same sort of responsibility. If, though, I play Sigmund Freud or Robert Maxwell or whoever then there is a responsibility.

When you're playing someone who really lived, you carry a burden, a burden to be accurate.

There's always mixed feelings about the work that I do. When you're playing a real person, that's another kind of responsibility. I have to say that every time that I have played a real person, even though I gave it everything I could, I feel like I misinterpreted trying to represent them. All the time I feel like I screwed it up! But I don't know if that's because I can't separate myself from it enough.

If you're playing a fictional character, you can create a character, you can sort of take certain liberties. And when you're playing a real person who's actually standing there watching you, you know, it's - you do feel a weight. You know, you feel an obligation to not only be - to give the best performance that you can, but to make sure that you represent this person.

To me it is harder to play a real person, but when you do it and you feel good about it and the person feels good about it, I think that's doubly rewarding. So the challenge is greater, the risk is greater, but the reward is greater as well.