Quotes About Actors

Stage actors look down on movie actors, movie actors look down on TV actors, and TV actors look down on... mass murderers.

I think a lot of actors, especially actors with a theater background, have a musical ear. A lot of actors just want to be musicians anyway, and a lot of musicians want to be actors.

It is true that as he film market in China has grown, actors' and actresses' compensation has grown quite a bit. Different actors have different kind of deals. Some take percentages, some sign contracts with a company, some take a simple cash payment. But the growth also means there are many more actors out there. Competition has gotten much stiffer, too.

I think that for a lot of actors - especially American actors - to get line readings and to be told and have your director literally act out the part for you is sort of discouraging in a way. It's a very Eastern European thing to do - a lot of directors that I worked with in Russia did that as well. And, I never took that as an insult, as many actors tend to do. To me, I think it's just offering a certain energy - offering their flavor - and, instead of trying to sort of decode and communicate it to you, they just show you their flavor of what it should be.

Look, a lot of directors were actors, even if they were unsuccessful actors which I think is helpful. I think it's a really helpful thing for a director to have experienced that. It helps you know how to talk to actors and how to get what you need from them.

The actors I respect are the real character actors, who are the real chameleon actors that completely change from role to role. I love Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman. They tend to be British, I guess. People who really disappear and transform, I really like that.

My 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.

There's no such thing as good voices. Because there's no such thing as bad voices. There are only good actors and bad actors.

The best voice actors all have a live performance background. And are competent, fearless, incredibly creative actors.

I hate hearing about actors who don't like the show. There are so many actors out there who'd give their right arm for what I'm getting to do.

People imagine that actors are being offered everything and you are not. So things come in and sometimes there are things that I want and can't get a meeting on, or go to a different actors.

Even in the early '90s, I was already starting to mix professional actors with non-actors. I always enjoyed working with non-professionals, because their performances are very natural and unaffected.

It's not often that I read about actors that I'm going to be meeting. I get to read articles about actors who were going to come in, so I get to see someone and say, "Oh, I read that I was going to see you. It's very nice to see you."

Good actors, you always know what they're thinking. That's why they're good actors.

I'm not just friends with fellow actors, but I find that a lot of people are out here in L.A. I go out of my way to make sure that's not the case, but I do have a lot of friends who are actors.

I think somewhere in the '90s, it started to shift, and you started to see a lot of film and television actors doing theater, and producers using the notoriety of the film and television actors to sell tickets.

All actors do that. Should do that and do that. For the most part. I say all actors. I'm exaggerating, but you know who does and who doesn't. Vince is a wonderful young actor who knows his work and did a beautiful job on this film.

Some actors, and especially the younger actors, they come into the job with a lot of attention on how they behave and everything when they're not working. Sometimes that can be unfortunate because the work call is pretty intense and the preparation for it. If your focus is there, then the actual doing of the job will be fun and enjoyable. But if you're so involved in trying to be interesting and a character and everything when you're not working, it can get in the way and people get goofed up.

I'm sure there are actors out there who work with other actors on a consistent basis - I am not one of them.

My circle of friends are not actors at all. None of them are actors, really, because they're are not available. They're always off somewhere.

I think casting a show is an art form in and of itself. We're all so different - the cast is made up partly of real stand-ups, partly of actors, and then partly of just legendary actors.

I like to do theater and hopefully be effective. Most actors, at least contemporary actors of my generation, can't do it. They don't have the chops.

It's very rare that you get a part that you actually like. People have a misconception, whether it be because actors lie or because you're reading interviews from giantly, massively famous actors, but you don't just get offered parts, all the time. You actually have to work to get them.

There are a lot of limitations and stigmas that are placed on young actors, specifically young black actors.

The quality of Korean actors is actually quite high. Their passion is overwhelming but not many platforms are available to cater to their creative needs. They're thirsty for something new and I think that's where I connect with them. They have vision. In certain sense many Korean actors have better vision than directors.

I think there are all sorts of ways of turning into an actor, and there are a vast variety of different actors. You know, you interview plenty of actors and you know they come at it from a different direction and acting means different things to a lot of people.

There is this thing called Actors Access, which is run by the breakdown services. What they do is they put up casting notices that are available to everyone. Because there's thousands and thousands of actors and there are student films and grad student films and, sometimes, some small independent projects that are on there.

It's a phenomenon that I see with young actors - a lot of American speaking parts going to British actors.

You can say what you want to about a rapper in a movie, but look at what Ice Cube has done. Ice Cube has created more opportunities for other actors to get jobs in this business than some actors have.

There are actors who make no decisions about how to play something until they're in the moment, looking into their scene partner's eyes. So they're completely available for whatever happens. And those are actors who tend to avoid getting into patterns.

There's a lot of egos with actors. We certainly don't like to be directed by other actors, or anything like that.

I found American actors quite scary because they're brilliant actors and brilliantly funny, and they never stopped once you wound them up... off they went and they just deliver fantastic stuff.

The fact is, these are actors playing parts, and maybe it's not such a bad thing that people be reminded of that. Both of these actors gave heart and soul to the Twilight movies, not only during shooting, but also by navigating so graciously the whole life-in-a-fishbowl aspect of the phenomenon. Above all they have always shown great respect for the fans who made these movies such a success. Now it's time that some of that respect be returned to them.

Most actors are very deeply passionate about their line of work. I suppose there are probably people who sell insurance policies that are passionate about it, but I'm thinking the ratio is a little higher for actors. But, I may be wrong.

Comedians work great as actors because they're good under pressure. With a lot of actors, you have to make them feel like everything's going really well to get a good performance out of them. But, if you have a comedian on the set, you can tell them, 'Hey, you really are screwing this up,' and then they just get better.

Competition is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to get along. And they are therefore not first-rate actors. The good actor is the one who competes, willingly, who enjoys competing. An actor must compete, or die...Peacefulness and the avoidance of trouble won't help in his acting. It is just the opposite he must seek.

I think as far as straight actors playing gay roles, "Brokeback Mountain" was a big breakthrough. I'm pretty sure when they were casting that movie that - I think the story is, like you know, 10 to 15 other actors turned it down.

I just love actors, and I've always loved actors. I empathize with their job. Everyone thinks it's easy, and it ain't. To be that vulnerable and brave on camera is tough.

Actors who are lovers in real life are often incapable if playing the part of lovers to an audience. It is equally true that sympathy between actors who are not lovers may create a temporary emotion that is perfectly sincere.

Actors are con men and con men are actors.

I don't like horror, which is ridiculous because I've been in three horror movies, but when I see those things, I see camera tricks and fake blood and actors screaming and I don't know understand why other actors don't see that.

The problem for me is not that Schwarzenegger is governor, but the extent to which even politicians who are not actors are functioning like actors.

I'm sure there are directors who don't like to work with actors and don't know how to be sensitive to actors.

People think actors have such glamorous lives, but the truth is actors go where nobody wants to go.

Are there differences between black actors’ opportunities and white actors’ opportunities? Yes, there are. It’s been said.

I think all actors are supposed to be character actors.

I went to USC for writing. I was judgmental of actors and their Starbucks and fancy cars.

As a runner on a film, you are the lowest of the low, and yet you have incredible access to everyone. I can totally imagine that for actors in the middle of a Hollywood bubble, all they really want is a sense of normality, and that gopher can be a tap for that.