I was always a character actor. I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood. — Paul Newman
An actor is an actor is an actor. The less personality an actor has off stage the better. A blank canvas on which to draw the characters he plays. — Arthur Lowe
Actors are rogues and vagabonds. Or they ought to be. — Helen Mirren
It's the actors who are prepared to make fools of themselves who are usually the ones who come to mean something to the audience. — Christian Bale
When I played Robin Hood, I knew the great role was Alan Rickman's and it didn't bother me. I always think that leading actors should be called the best supporting actors. — Kevin Costner
The nice thing is that, at least in Los Angeles, I'm known as a character actor and I do auditions for other things besides just cartoon shows. — Dan Castellaneta
Film actors reach a certain level, but they don't get beyond it unless they work in the theater. — Shirley Knight
I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting. — Miranda Richardson
Acting is all about big hair and funny props... All the great actors knew it. Olivier knew it, Brando knew it. — Harold Ramis
We exponents of horror do much better than those Method actors. We make the unbelievable believable. More often than not, they make the believable unbelievable. — Vincent Price
I'm a frustrated actor. My ... goal is to beat Alfred Hitchcock in the number of cameos. I'm going to try to break his record. — Stan Lee
Only a great actor finds the difficulties of the actor's art infinite. — Ellen Terry
An actor is at his best a kind of unfrocked priest who, for an hour or two, can call on heaven and hell to mesmerize a group of innocents. — Alec Guinness
Short Character Actors Quotes
You can always pick out stage actors at the Oscars: they know how to walk. — Ian Mckellen
The best actors instinctively feel out what the other actors need, and they just accommodate it. — Christopher Nolan
You'll never see any two good actors approach a role in the same way. — Constantin Stanislavski
We're improv comedians, we're not necessarily actors, we don't come across that way. — Joe Gatto
I think any actor worth their salt wants to show as much versatility as they possibly can. — Daniel Radcliffe
The real actor has a direct line to the collective heart. — Bette Davis
There was more good acting at Hollywood parties than ever appeared on the screen. — Bette Davis
Top 10 Character Actors Quotes
Every animator is really an actor performing in slow motion, living the character a drawing at a time. — John Lasseter
Acting is not that far from mental disease: An actor works on splitting his character into others. It is like a kind of schizophrenia. — Vittorio Gassman
I go through a whole process with the actors first, building and creating characters, then I encourage them to sort of live in that character when they're in the screen. — Keenen Ivory Wayans
Although there was a screenplay, the actors never knew what questions I was going to ask them, and all of my character's voice-over narration and scenes were added after the fact. — Griffin Dunne
It is scary for an actor when you get hired as a lead. No matter what the plot is, it is your job to do something interesting enough to make them want to get inside the lead character's head. — Tom Selleck
The actor should not play a part. Like the Aeolian harps that used to be hung in the trees to be played only by the breeze, the actor should be an instrument played upon by the character he depicts. — Alla Nazimova
There's always a concern as an actor that you'll be boring unless your character is swinging from a chandelier. — Matthew Macfadyen
When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.' — Alfred Hitchcock
To me, it's the kiss of death when you start winking at the audience as an actor. I just never liked it. I don't like it when we do monologues, looking into the character. — Thomas Jane
The virtue you would like to have, assume it is already yours, appropriate it, enter into the part and live the character just as the great actor is absorbed in... the part he plays. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Character Actors Image Quotes
We are what we believe we are.
Theatre Actors Quotes
Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances. — Sanford Meisner
Preparing a character is the opposite of building-it is a demolishing, removing brick by brick everything in the actor's muscles, ideas and inhibitions that stands between him and the part, until one day, with a great rush of air, the character invades his every pore. — Peter Brook
Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it. — Constantin Stanislavski
You're a work of art. Not everyone will understand you, but the ones who do, will never forget about you.
An actor must interpret life, and in order to do so he must be willing to accept all experiences that life can offer. — Marlon Brando
There is a strange pecking order among actors. Theatre actors look down on film actors, who look down on TV actors. Thank God for reality shows, or we wouldn't have anybody to look down on. — George Clooney
We can compare classical chess and rapid chess with theatre and cinema - some actors don't like the latter and prefer to work in the theatre. — Boris Spassky
When someone disrespects you, beware the impulse to win their respect. For disrespect is not a valuation of your worth but a signal of their character.
I believe in the time when we shall be able to create works of art in the Theatre without the use of the written play, without the use of actors. — Edward Gordon Craig
There's nothing more boring than unintelligent actors, because all they have to talk about is themselves and acting. There have to be other things. — Tim Robbins
An actor without techies is a naked person standing in the dark trying to emote. A techie without actors is a person with marketable skills. — Mark Leslie
Acting is not being emotional, but being able to fully express emotion. — Kate Reid
Movie Actors Quotes
Get real. You are not the star of the movie. Most of what happens around you isn’t about you at all. There are infinite numbers of other movies. In those, if you feature at all, you’re just a supporting actor. It would really help your happiness if you started to look at your life that way. — Mo Gawdat
A government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation funds filmmaking there, and I wrote several screenplays but never got any money. They were sent back to me, and they said that they were too commercial for them. — Renny Harlin
When I was a kid, if a guy got killed in a western movie I always wondered who got his horse. — George Carlin
A mistake that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant.
I don't know what your childhood was like, but we didn't have much money. We'd go to a movie on a Saturday night, then on Wednesday night my parents would walk us over to the library. It was such a big deal, to go in and get my own book. — Robert Redford
The big-budget blockbuster is becoming one of the most dependable forms of filmmaking. — Peter Jackson
When you do an animated movie - at least the ones that I've been a part of - you never see any of the other actors. It's all done separately with headphones in a voice booth. — Steve Carell
Accept both compliments and criticism. It takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.
Every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, 'Lost in Space'? A bunch of good actors running around shooting at special effects on a soundstage? I took my kids to see that and felt like I was on an acid trip. — Tom Berenger
I don't watch the movies I make, so I haven't seen 'Footloose' since it came out. You see this young, hungry actor, it's pretty fun. I was the only one they screen tested. It was an attempt by the director and producer to talk the head of the studio into hiring me because they didn't want me. — Kevin Bacon
But I don't have such a strong desire to need to get away from filmmaking. — Mike Figgis
Whether it is the cavemen in the caves thousands of years ago, Shakespeare plays, television, movies and books, stories and characters take us on a journey. All I do is tell those stories without scripts and without actors. — Mark Burnett
Film Actors Quotes
My cameraman and I devised a method, which we started using from my second film, which applies mainly to day scenes shot in the studio, where we used bounced light instead of direct light. We agreed with this thing of four or five shadows following the actors is dreadful. — Satyajit Ray
The thing about film-making is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own cheques, be responsible. — Tom Cruise
You have film actors doing TV, rap stars doing TV, with everyone kind of crossing the line. — Anthony Michael Hall
To be yourself in a world that in constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Eventually, in '84, we made a film for a little over a million dollars - with American actors that was shot in English - that was shown in Finland A little action film called Born American. — Renny Harlin
I like the sensibility of Australian film a lot and the crews are fantastic. Great characters, wonderful people and no line between - I think in Hollywood they have this line between actors and crew a lot, and that just didn't exist, which I really appreciated. — Barbara Hershey
Most of the top actors and actresses may be working in ten or twelve films at the same time, so they will give one director two hours and maybe shoot in Bombay in the morning and Madras in the evening. It happens. — Satyajit Ray
There is a battle of two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth. The wolf that wins? The one you feed.
I'm an actor, and I don't look at myself as providing comic relief. I have done diverse and dark roles such as a psycho, murderer, and others in films such as 'Don', 'Eklavya' and '3 Idiots.' — Boman Irani
I think every American actor wants to be a movie star. But I never wanted to do stupid movies, I wanted to do films. I vowed I would never do a commercial, nor would I do a soap opera -- both of which I did as soon as I left the Acting Company and was starving. — Kevin Kline
To me if there's an achievement to lighting and photography in a film it's because nothing stands out, it all works as a piece. And you feel that these actors are in this situation and the audience is not thrown by a pretty picture or by bad lighting. — Roger Deakins
A film is a director's vision... there is, however, much input an actor or actress can have. — Natasha Richardson
The actor must know that since he, himself, is the instrument, he must play on it to serve the character with the same effortless dexterity with which the violinist makes music on his. Just because he doesn't look like a violin is no reason to assume his techniques should be thought of as less difficult. — Uta Hagen
I start with the story, almost in the old campfire sense, and the story leads to both the characters, which actors should best be cast in this story, and the language. The choice of words, more than anything else, creates the feeling that the story gives off. — Donald E. Westlake
I like the character roles. Somewhere back there I really came to the conclusion in my mind that the difference between acting and stardom was major. And that if you become a star, people are going to go to see you. If you remain an actor, they're going to go and see the story you're in. — Morgan Freeman
Once the curtain is raised, the actor is ceases to belong to himself. He belongs to his character, to his author, to his public. He must do the impossible to identify himself with the first, not to betray the second, and not to disappoint the third. — Sarah Bernhardt
As an actor, the biggest compliment you can get, in my book is for someone to believe that you're the character. — Matt LeBlanc
There's a lot of great writing, and characters, and stories being told in television nowadays. And much more than there used to be. The opportunities to tell stories, because of the opportunities to show content. And so it's drawing actors from cinema, movie actors, actors to where there's a lot of opportunities to where you can tell stories. — Keanu Reeves
You, the actor, must be aware of when you're being funny, but the character you're playing should always be oblivious to the fact. — Jon Lovitz
The director's job is to know what emotional statement he wants a character to convey in his scene or his line, and to exercise taste and judgment in helping the actor give his best possible performance. — Stanley Kubrick
I think you have to be schizoid three different ways to be an actor ... You have to be a human being. Then you have to be the character you're playing. And on top of that you've got to be the guy sitting out there in Row 10, watching yourself and judging yourself. That's why most of us are crazy to start with, or go nuts once we get into it. — George C. Scott
You know what I would like to do: make a film with actors standing in empty space so that the spectator would have to imagine the background of the characters. — Michelangelo Antonioni
When you work with a good actor, there is this natural rapport and chemistry that develops over time. That chemistry helps your characters come alive and makes the story of the film that much more convincing. — Aamir Khan
As an actor I'm part of a long line of character people you can take back to the silent movies. There's always the little guy who's the sidekick to the tall, good-looking guy who gets the girl. — Curtis Armstrong
I was born a character actor. I was never really a leading man type. — Burgess Meredith
I became an actor to escape my own personality. Acting is the most therapeutic thing in the world. You see, through acting you come full circle in your personality and, oh, what a grand time you can have along the way being wonderful people through your characters...I think all the courage that I may lack personally I have as an actor. — George C. Scott
I always think that trying to push yourself as an actor in a direction that you've never been before, developing characters which are more difficult to get into the head of, or are more interesting and further away from yourself, is always a challenge. But, you want to take up that challenge and try your best. — Asa Butterfield
As an actor, you're used to putting on characters, taking them off, becoming someone else, doing your research, and working on that. — Angela Bassett
The balance of the frame - the way an actor is relating to the space in the frame - is the most important factor in helping the audience feel what the character is thinking. — Roger Deakins
The role of an actor is to make every character believable. — Orlando Bloom
The thing is, I want to play real characters and not all girls can be pretty. The thing is, you get these girls who say 'I'm a character actor' then you see them in a role and nothing has really changed but the outfit. — Juliette Lewis
All actors bring something unexpected to the role because they have to translate what's on the page and make a real character out of the black-and-white text that's there in the script. — Joe Johnston
Some of the most intense affairs are between actors and characters. There's a fire in the human heart and we jump into it with the same obsession as we have with our lovers. — Sigourney Weaver
Actors who say they can dive inside a character are either schizophrenic or lying. — Bruce Campbell
Filmmaking is finding a piece of granite and you start to chip away and then you have the shape of a head, the shape of the arm, you can see the shape of the face and the face starts to gather character. You have to find it. — Jason Reitman
I think theatre is by far the most rewarding experience for an actor. You get 4 weeks to rehearse your character and then at 7:30 pm you start acting and nobody stops you, acting with your entire soul. — Christopher Eccleston
I look at leading men because that's ultimately what I'm aspiring to do. But I also look at character actors and people that I'm just in awe by, just because I can relate to it. — Shemar Moore
I don't see a difference between playing a performance capture role and a live action role, they're just characters to me at the end of the day and I'm an actor who wants to explore those characters in fantastically written scripts. The only caveat is a good story is a good character. — Andy Serkis
The trick to being a good actor is getting so involved in your character that the camera disappears, the 50 bored guys eating doughnuts disappear, friends disappear. To get to that point when you don't have to think about it, you're just acting and reacting in those circumstances. — Val Kilmer
As you get older and ease your way into being a character actor you have to be comfortable with where you are in life and career, and I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing - working on projects I'm proud of. — George Clooney
You know when you watch old movies, it's always the small parts you remember, the character actors who come in like a breath of fresh air. — Amy Sedaris
In Conclusion
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