Every scene you will ever act begins in the middle, and it is up to you, the actor, to provide what comes before.

That's why there's so little romance in our world now: everyone thinks romance is weak.

There's only one reason why a character drinks: to seek confrontation. To fight for what they want in ways normally denied them.

An actor is looking for conflict. Conflict is what creates drama. We are taught to avoid trouble [so] actors don't realize they must go looking for it. Plays are written about...the extraordinary, the unusual, the climaxes. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.

Take nothing for granted. Make an emotional discovery as often as you can find one in every scene. Ask yourself: What is new?

Humor [in a scene] is not jokes. It is that attitude toward being alive without which you would long ago have jumped off the 59th Street Bridge.

Conflict is what creates drama. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.