I was relatively buff (before 'Avatar'), because I was working in a tanktop half the time on stage, anyway, but I just went kind of into hyperdrive after that and really worked to beat that old body into shape, to get that carcass where...I didn't want to be looking at it and see anything hanging where it shouldn't be hanging.
Stephen LangI have a penchant for playing God's clowns. Actually, I played Nijinsky once, and he used to call himself God's clown.
Stephen LangFortitude, determination... in a way they're things that I idealize myself and am curious about.
Stephen LangI don't want to, in any way, characterize a race or a people or get accused of racial profiling, but the Irish, as lyrical and romantic as they can be in their poetry, they can be every bit as repressed in their personal relations.
Stephen LangI get a lot of people coming up to me and saying, "I really hate you." And they say it in the nicest possible way and I accept it. It's the people who come up to you and say, "I really liked your character. Man, he was right!" Those are the ones you worry about.
Stephen LangThe idea of being in a television series is a wonderful one to be considered, but you want to make sure it's the right thing for you because if you are fortunate enough to have something go for a long term, you want to make sure that it's something that you really want to be spending a bulk of your time on.
Stephen LangMy advice to actors? To successful actors, it's, "sock it away," and unsuccessful actors, it's just, "Just keep at it. Don't do it unless you have to do it and if you have to do it, keep you've got to keep your instrument in shape. You just got to keep on getting better. If you're not getting better, you're standing still.
Stephen Lang