Actors' quotes about acting and filmmaking

“Acting is a business and a political act and a craft, but I also feel like it's a service - specifically, for a military audience.”
Adam Driver

“One of the pleasures of being an actor, is kind of getting out of yourself and trying to stretch and reshape yourself into someone else that's had a very different kind of experience. Obviously you bring whatever you know about life and about the way that people behave and everything to a performance.”
Alessandro Nivola

“I love diving into different skins, skins that make me feel deep emotions.”
Aaron Paul

“You feel a huge sense of responsibility when you're playing a real person.”
Jeremy Strong

“Here's another fine mess you've gotten me into.”

Oliver Hardy

“Part of being a filmmaker is also being a craftsman.”
Andy Wachowski

“I think all actors are supposed to be character actors.”
Dennis Farina

“When you have directors that are hospitable and open to suggestion, everything is easier, and you have time to explore, but within reason and limits.”
Caroline Aaron

“I find acting tough, but sitting around chatting - that's easy.”
Nick Frost

“The music I make and the process of acting, for me, are both about trying to understand people and get inside what makes us tick. That's the main thing that excites me. Our sense of who we really are and what drives us.”
Riz Ahmed

“The true art is being able to take whatever the writer's done, and if it is a bit flimsy or it is a bit rushed or is just box-ticking writing, then the true artist would be able to make that come off the page and sing for an audience or a viewer. I'm still learning how to do that properly.”
Billy Howle

“Acting is painting, not photography, but painting is just as 'real' as photography.”
Sir Derek Jacobi

“As an actor conscious that you are in a theatre, you still have to make it look as spontaneous as if you did not know that you are being watched by 1,000 pairs of eyes.”
Sir Derek Jacobi

“I think actors always retain one foot in the cradle. We're switched on to our youth, to our childhood. We have to be because we're in the business of transferring emotions to other people.”
Sir Derek Jacobi

“In choosing any role, I ask the same questions: what kind of part is it? is the role challenging? does the director have a vision? is the story moving? etc.”
Lukas Haas

“Actors can be good, say all these beautiful, wonderful things - but where does it come from? It comes from the writers, and people kind of forget that sometimes.”
Eva Marie Saint

“An actor's job is to entertain and I'm glad to say that my films succeeded in that respect.”
Peter Cushing

“In movies we tend make things black and white: you're either this, or you're that.”
Bill Skarsgård

“Theatre is really difficult, so it's important that you have a director that kind of understands that and is really hands on.”
Jimmi Simpson

“As a director, it is important to understand the actor's process.”
Chadwick Boseman

“Sometimes when you're acting, you only need a little bit of something to sort of channel or, you know, transport into a place.”
Chadwick Boseman

“Acting is all about finding the truth within whatever world you're in.”
Karen Gillan

“Stage is the ultimate test; I like watching established screen actors on stage to see if they can really do it. But it's great to have a healthy mixture of the two. Film is so technical: there's something very particular about the relationship between you and the camera. It took a long time for me to get good on film.”
Lesley Manville

“I sort of fall in love with every character I do; you have to understand how they became what they've become, whether they're the ugly kind or the very beautiful kinds of characters.”
Sally Hawkins

“I love disappearing. That's what acting is. For me it's about putting on a persona, stepping into a pair of shoes. It's my face, but I'm using it as a tool for that spirit, that character.”
Sally Hawkins