R. Lee Ermey Quotes

It's down to the actors to show the writers the potential of the character.

You take what you know, and you put it through your own prism. If I play characters that break down or cry, it's Gary Oldman crying; it's not the character crying.

I feel like my responsibility as an actor is to make characters as compelling and believable as possible.

I don't approach a role by saying I'll be unsavory or unlikable.

As an actor, you are always someone else's tool. You can have a connection with them, and you can share their point of view, but ultimately, you are helping them reflect.

There's a great tradition of actors taking on parts of much less obvious sympathy.

I have no qualms about doing a character who may be below the lead in the pecking order, whether it's a hero or a villain or a comedian.

I was blown away watching Michael Keaton act because he was such a maniacal, evil person on set. He takes on a totally different life, and it was so amazing to watch him work.

I don't think I was bubbly in 'Oohalu Gusagusalade.' It was a real character.

It's better to play negative lead roles than portray just any other character on the show.

When you watch me on the screen, you should not be able to recognise me. If people say, you're a natural and an organic actor, that's an insult. If you're being yourself all the time on screen, that means you don't know how to act.

It's only over time that you get to exploring or adding nuances to the character. Like my part in 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' - I am so not the person who wears high heels and totters about like a poodle.

I'm a director's actor and go by what they say.

I have realised I am a director's actor.

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.

I have just gained a deeper and deeper respect for acting and the whole art of it because you're really trying to live a life and to do the best justification for it.

I'm very old-school. I like a director to direct me. I like to be the actor.

Every actor has to love and loathe the character he plays.

I'm not an actress, you know. I don't know what's going on. And I'm supposed to be the villain.

As an actor, you're sort of the court-appointed lawyer for the character.

That's what I love about acting, is playing different roles. I want to work for the character, and not make it work for me.

I still think of myself as a stage actor. When I do film and television I try to implement what I was taught to do in theatre, to try to stretch into characters that are far from myself.

When you are developing a character you have to bring so much of yourself to the role.

An actor can be as talented as another, but if he doesn't stick to what the director's intentions are, it all falls down. I adore working with actors.

I like to try to change things up a bit in the way that actors such as Philip Seymour Hoffman or Michael Fassbender did and do.