Quotes About Actors

#1. I should be one of those actors who has a list. A lot of people do - 'I wanna do this and this and this' - but I don't. I enjoy being surprised - indeed, often ambushed - by a role.

Jefferson Mays

#2. The Russians and rogue actors, including ISIS - this is a serious part of the 21st century security challenge that we face.

Jeb Bush

#3. I think it's even harder because I think as always, Hollywood is sort of glamour central for the world, and the entire world looks to it for not only entertainment, but the whole idea of the youth factor and youth being sold to our culture via young actors and actresses.

Anthony Michael Hall

#4. All actors are terrified - they just learn how to control it.

Lauren Bacall

#5. I pick out young people and teach them in less time than it would take me to alter the methods of people from the boards, and I get actors who look the parts they have to fill.

D.W. Griffith

#6. I'd see child actors and I'd get so jealous, because they're just completely wide open.

Joaquin Phoenix

#7. It's a dream to be in a company of actors.

Edward Norton

#8. If my kids decide to be actors and really, truly love it and are passionate about it, then I would definitely want to help them along their way, but it's a tough business.

Josie Bissett

#9. I really think that as good of a job as you do as a writer, you're absolutely indebted to the actors that have to deliver that material.

Carlton Cuse

#10. I don't want to be one of those young actors who is around for a couple of years and melts off the scene.

Tuppence Middleton

#11. I think actors are divided into two groups: one that wants to be an actor to become famous and rich, and the other that wants to be an actor because they have to be. I'm more in the second group.

Franka Potente

#12. Child actors going on to become adult actors never really works, apart from a few. Jodie Foster was the exception.

Mark Lester

#13. I love actors, and I'm very protective of them. I trust them. It's a mutual trust.

Lee Daniels

#14. Even now, there are young actors who want careers as romantic leading men, and the best thing is not to reveal you're gay.

Ian McKellen

#15. They can't make any of these talented young actors Fletch. You might as well make a movie called Chevy Chase.

Chevy Chase

#16. I like young actors because they're so unspoiled, not like some of those actors who are about half an hour into their fifteen minutes of fame by the time they get to me.

John Hughes

#17. I got to draw monsters, robots and write funny stories. I loved doing that stuff and working with the actors. But it got to be less and less that stuff and more about trying to be everywhere and not being able to do one thing very enjoyably.

Jhonen Vasquez

#18. Really good director sometimes will kind of see what the actors are doing and then get in there. Because there's the realization that you have to find it a little bit and then kind of clump around and sniff it out.

Ron Livingston

#19. I became very close with Charles Bronson and his wife, Kim. We did 'Sea Wolf' together along with Christopher Reeve. I've been lucky enough to work with some amazing, legendary actors. I worked with Rod Steiger twice, for instance.

Catherine Mary Stewart

#20. You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you do, and there's not a lot of waiting around and interruption and not a lot of money involved - sometimes money really clouds the waters of creativity.

Amy Landecker

#21. People recognize actors that they see regularly, like people they see on the television every week.

Ben Barnes

#22. We can never know ... But maybe it's because no black actors merited being nominated.Why put people into categories?

Charlotte Rampling

#23. 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.

Jeffrey Wright

#24. When I shoot actors, I have that dilemma. I want the actor to be good, and sometimes I have to push them to a place that isn't pleasant. I always think: 'Is it worth doing for the sake of the movie?' But I have to remember the bigger picture.

Michel Gondry

#25. I can be tough on actors, but I also let them know early on in our relationship what I expect from them.

Ricky Schroder

#26. We have newsreaders behaving like actors, lowering their voices if it's a sad story, as if we didn't know it's a sad story. There isn't a single cool newsreader.

Tom Baker

#27. When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing for them, just the way Shakespeare wrote for his actors.

Stephen Sondheim

#28. I was working with Peter Tolan, who was my writing partner on those two [Rescue Me and The Job], and he did The Larry Sanders Show with Garry Shandling, and he always said that the second season is better because you know the actors.

Denis Leary

#29. Working with a bunch of actors is like trying to tune each violin.

Patrice Leconte

#30. I'm a firm believer that actors take to work who they aren't at home. People show their other self in their art or in their work.

Robin Tunney

#31. There's a lot of actors out there or people who want to be actors. It's unique to find somebody that, you know, needs to be an actor.

Jeremy Sisto

#32. From 1980 to 1990, I shot more films than any other actor in the Screen Actors Guild, apart from Gene Hackman.

Steve Guttenberg

#33. One of the things that I really love about doing a film is working with actors and the whole casting process. I feel I'm not looking for actors. I feel I'm looking for characters. If the characters come from Bollywood, fine. If they come from Indian theater, perfect.

Deepa Mehta

#34. Actors already striving in the theatre wouldn't dream of putting themselves on these shows; it means that only about 10% of the talent out there is being auditioned for parts.

Elaine Paige

#35. Actors should be overheard, not listened to, and the audience is 50 percent of the performance.

Shirley Booth

#36. Excesses are essentially gestures. It is easy to be extremely cruel, magnanimous, humble or self-sacrificing when we see ourselves as actors in a performance.

Eric Hoffer

#37. I never hoped that both my children would become actors. I expected them to do something else.

Catherine Deneuve

#38. It has been a great experience to act in Hollywood movies with actors like Ben Kingsley.

Navi Rawat

#39. The show was number one in the ratings, Gordon Russell was our head writer, the story lines were magnificent and the acting most exciting. I loved working with Judith Light and all the other actors on the show at that time.

Michael Storm

#40. Some actors get fired up by the sound of the audience. I just want to retreat.

Francesca Annis

#41. I love working with actors. That's what the set really is, for me. It's my time with the actors.

Wes Anderson

#42. Actors aren't stupid, mostly, and if there's a sensibility and an aesthetic that a director's going for, if you're aware of that too, you can do things to help that.

Alan Cumming

#43. A lot of talented actors still have to pay their bills.

Mark Wahlberg

#44. Going to set, every day, and working with the incredible actors I get to work with is fulfilling. I've been doing this since I was nine years old, so it's always been something that I've been passionate about. It's always fed me.

Tatiana Maslany

#45. Actors pull from their own experiences to bring reality to the characters. I wouldn't want to play someone who's a lot like me. There would be no turning it on or off.

Emily Osment

#46. I am beyond critical of my own work. I always tell actors they have to watch themselves 4-7 times in a given scene before they can be remotely objective.

Julie Ann Emery

#47. I think most actors are shy. I really do. The greatest actors can disappear. I had friends call me the Blend-In Man.

Rip Torn

#48. The magic doesn't come from within the director's mind, it comes from within the hearts of the actors.

James Cameron

#49. I think I'm a very very nice director. Very supportive, very nurturing. I definitely try to challenge my actors but I think I'm very supportive.

David Schwimmer

#50. There's nothing worse - I don't like listening to actors talk about the process, especially when - I mean, for me I've played a lot of guys, dudes, boys in a sense and this was a challenge for me just to play that official character.

Scott Speedman

#51. Los Angeles is peopled by waiters and carpenters and drivers who are there to be actors.

Patrick Duffy

#52. I'm very jealous of actors that swoop in for 20 days, and then swoop back out. When you're a director, you're on that train for the next two years, so you best love it like you've never loved anything, ever.

Francesca Gregorini

#53. The show is like an Edwardian play - emotional life gets stepped on for the sake of accepted manners, and that's terrific for actors to play in.

Jason Alexander

#54. I have been portrayed by actors in three television documentaries, two plays, one musical and a film. It's no fun watching yourself being traduced and imitated by an actor.

Felix Dennis

#55. Most actors I know come from a screwed up background, so it makes sense that if you can walk on to a space and recreate your reality, then that's the place that will become very dear.

Peter Mullan

#56. To see great actors bring it all to life us exhilerating

David Michod

#57. The city is full of terrible actors. That is what historians never say about Madras, it is filled with hams.

Manu Joseph

#58. Actors put ourselves in awkward positions all the time.

Charlie Day

#59. I'm a character actor but unlike a lot of character actors, I don't look radically different from film to film and there was a bunch of them at once.

Curtis Armstrong

#60. Ralph Fiennes and Edward Norton are among my favorite actors.

Vance Joy

#61. We've all seen great actors and actresses who are missing a certain chemistry. And it's not about getting along or not getting along.

Johnny Galecki

#62. I've always seen it as the role of an artist to drag his inside out, give the audience all you've got. Writers, actors, singers, all good artists do the same. It isn't supposed to be easy.

Henry Rollins

#63. I think part of my reputation has to do with the difficult roles I've played. Actors do tend to get identified with their characters.

Val Kilmer

#64. I ruffle a lot of feathers. And I'm also selective - that makes you a troublemaker. But so be it. I laid a cornerstone for black actors, and that makes me happy.

Esther Rolle

#65. When I went to university, I was already working professionally with the Ulster Actors.

James Nesbitt

#66. It's very funny because every time I make a movie, and I've heard this re-echoed by other filmmakers and actors I have worked with, you kind of feel like you're naked again. You have to figure it all out from scratch, as if you had never done it before.

Todd Haynes

#67. Only one of us would usually sing lead. Which most of the time was, Mickey or Dave. They thought it was perfectly a natural routine, because Mickey and Dave saw themselves as TV actors.

Peter Tork

#68. Remember, acting is not a business of glamour. It is science, craft and an art. Read about acting; don't do it for the sake of fun. Actors such as Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah are great examples; they are surviving only because they have read well.

Boman Irani

#69. The best actors, I think, have a childlike quality. They have a sort of an ability to lose themselves. There's still some silliness.

Kenneth Branagh

#70. In that Freak Show environment, I got to spend time with so many of the actors who were part of that world. I just had the best time ever.

Matt Bomer

#71. When you think about such fine actors as Maggie Smith or Michael Gambon, they do all mediums. I think it would be quite sad and a bit dull just to have to stick to one. I like all of them.

Keeley Hawes

#72. The beautiful thing about it is that no two directors or actors work the same way. You also learn not to be afraid of discussion and conflict.

Ewan McGregor

#73. So many Irish actors overplay that modesty because they're afraid people will judge them and say, 'The state of yer man, he thinks he's great,' or whatever.

Jack Reynor

#74. Movies now, you can watch a trailer for a movie on TV now and you're not sure if it's a video game or a movie. You have to wait till the end of it to see, oh, I see, those actors are in it, so that one's a movie. Oftentimes, it's based on a video game.

Billy Bob Thornton

#75. We all, in fact, carry so many people inside us; the only difference is that actors get paid for it, and we sort of spruce it up a bit.

Jane Fonda

#76. There's a reason why actors are always dying to work with the Coens. They just set the stage for you to do their best work.

Oscar Isaac

#77. I feel the theatre is the most unique one of all [the arts] for collaboration. I feel very fortunate to be in a field where I really do get to have long conversations with the visual artists, the actors, the musicians. It's all art forms rolled into one and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.

Susan Stroman

#78. But all actors go through the process, it's hit and miss, you have achievement and failure.

Thomas Haden Church

#79. Certain actors wanna get paid, they think working in a low-budget movie is being ripped off. But for others it's like, 'Yes, let's do it.'

Abel Ferrara

#80. That's precisely what we do as actors: try to convince the audience we are somebody else. And if you can do that, you are really doing something.

Margot Robbie

#81. Actors have no color. That's the art form.

Whoopi Goldberg

#82. I don't even like the show that much, I mean, it's about doctors. It's not like doctors are as important as actors anyway, I bet I've saved more lives with my acting talent then any doctor has.

Zach Braff

#83. Some actors need to be rattled and some need to be focused.

Liev Schreiber

#84. I've been blessed. Starting with Steppenwolf Theater and onward, learning from wonderful actors and getting to play with wonderful actors.

Jeff Perry

#85. As actors, you like to think about the luxury of having choices in your career, but for the most part you kind of take whatever comes your way and hope that you carved out something that you're proud of in the end.

Marin Ireland

#86. I understand that anything actors are doing, good or bad, is motivated by fear.

Baz Luhrmann

#87. From this point of view, science - the real game in town - is rhetoric, a series of efforts to persuade relevant social actors that one's manufactured knowledge is a route to a desired form of very objective power.

Donna J. Haraway

#88. Someone who directs a film, they have to see the overall picture, and they have to get the best performances out of the actors.

Joshua Bell

#89. I'd moved to L.A., and everyone's actors here and writers, they were like super emotional and super in touch with their feelings, and it seemed like every two weeks one of my friend just coming to me and, like, you hurt my feelings the other day, dude.

Seth Rogen

#90. My story starts with me as a fan. And to be a fan is to know that loving trumps being beloved. All the affection I poured into bands, into films, into actors and musicians, was about me and my friends.

Carrie Brownstein

#91. To be able to work with actors who are doing such good work, not only makes it easier for you, but it makes you better.

Eric Ladin

#92. I've got a lot to learn, and I'm very blessed to work with such talented actors. I'm nowhere near my goal. It's all about applying yourself and taking time to work and train.

Kellan Lutz

#93. Over a period of time, if you have a successful show, then you have a devoted audience. I feel you owe something to them. That goes for everybody - writers, camera operators, actors, studio executives, etc. Sadly, I've realized it's a responsibility that very few people live up to.

Raymond Burr

#94. I really look up to actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett who have a strong background in theatre.

Alexa Vega

#95. I had great parents, and they trained me well and instilled great values in me. They also taught me common sense about money and that I couldn't count on the good fortune of doing a show forever. Therefore, I never spent money I didn't have and didn't end up destitute like other child actors.

Ken Osmond

#96. I usually go with roles that I find entertaining. But every once in a while, there comes along a film that has an important social message. As actors, we have a certain responsibility toward our audience.

Boman Irani

#97. My favorite actors are Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith - guys like that.

Liam Hemsworth

#98. Actors have an opportunity to use storytelling as a way to solve pain.

Nicolas Cage

#99. I think film is a world of directors. Theater is a world of actors.

Diego Luna

#100. When I made 'Hard Boiled,' I had no idea that it would be released to an international audience. I just wanted to make a film to team up my two favorite actors, Tony Leung and Chow Yun-Fat.

John Woo