Maxine Peake Quotes

The worst acting is about imitation.

Yeah, I think the common denominator - and this is probably going to sound like Acting 101 - but the common denominator is belief in the character in the moment.

For me really good acting is about subtext.

I think good acting is always character acting.

It is a treat to do scenes where you silently enact.

Acting is all about big hair and funny props... All the great actors knew it. Olivier knew it, Brando knew it.

Some actors get by with behaving, not acting. You've got to sell the effect. I act more in the 'Nightmare' movies because it's not like me. I'm acting, not reacting.

Sometimes I think of movie acting as advanced pretend.

Actors walk around wearing these little tool-belts of acting skills. And I just don't find that interesting to watch. I never want to see someone who clearly can cry at the drop of a hat. That's so uninteresting.

In acting, you have to pull from real-life situations, from people, to help develop a character.

Character acting is a much braver pursuit than a guy who runs around and intermittently clenches his jaw muscles.

I think chemistry and great acting go hand-in-hand.

As much as I know people love the method and what you can draw out of yourself, a lot of acting is very imaginative.

Bad actors try to cry, and good actors try not to. Bad actors try to laugh, and good actors try not to.

Sometimes you read things that people don't even notice in a performance, that you just are moved by or understand that this actor is really living his or her life on the screen. The first time I realized that was when I watched Brando in 'On the Waterfront.'

I think I'm sort of method in a sense, and I enjoy, you know, trying to find that reality in fake emotion.

For a time, I really thought acting was just impersonating. But impersonation is just big brush strokes, really. What makes acting different is empathy.

When I watch an actress say a line, I watch how they deliver the lines with gestures.

So I view acting as a thoroughly involved performance with the maximum of sincerity and devotion.

I believe an actor should be shameless.

It’s more than just saying lines and turning the light on. You have to drive the story - there’s a technical aspect.

I'd always thought that acting was, like, you had to work really hard, you had to change the way you walked, you talked, and all of that. But that's not acting. That's shmacting.

I love acting and really taking on another person, another life.

For me, acting is doing.

Acting deals with very delicate emotions. It is not putting up a mask. Each time an actor acts he does not hide; he exposes himself.