M. Night Shyamalan Quotes

You don't do characters that are the same as you, otherwise why bother to act?

I really am a character actor, in my heart of hearts, because I really do like developing characters and painting a past for them.

For me the costume is always a huge part of getting into character.

It's all about exploring the more unpredictable aspects in the character, not just fighting people.

Even if I'm playing a bad guy, I work hard to make him multi-leveled and interesting.

Being a dramatic character was more difficult for me. It was a new thing that I explored because it was challenging. But I love to challenge myself and different things.

I started acting when I was 13 years old and I feel like I really admire actors who are these kind of amazing shape-changing people, that they almost can turn themselves into other people.

I always like to try to bring whatever I can to what is on the page, so I like to find as much dimension as I can, in each role.

As an actor you bring some of your own experiences which can make things easier. You build off of it, but your imagination is always the best thing you have as far as creating things I think specifically for what that character is going through. But you're definitely drawing obviously upon things that you can connect to, and then you kind of mold the change that you're making into something that's right for the character.

As far as being an actor is concerned, you have to have passion. If you're not bringing the passion of the character into the room with you, you might as well not come into the room at all.

I think the best models are actors, you're taking on a character. In that sense, I have been acting for a long time. It didn't seem like a crazy transition. Acting is a bigger step into modelling in a way. Modelling is easier when you don't look like yourself. When you look like a different person, you feel different. Acting goes deeper into that, you have to move and talk like that character. I love it.

I love playing characters that go to extreme places, and I love to explore different kinds of psychological landscapes, so it is ultimately a kind of fun, but it's also complicated and colored by the depth of the nastiness of it, at certain times, as well.

...as an actor there's nothing better than a great moody moment to play with nothing to say. It's so much easier to do because you can really get inside your head.

I think an actor can actually gather moments, memories and emotions for his next character. So, it's a constant work.

I have always wanted to do a book about actors because I think that the death of a character is a tremendously emotional experience.

The actor has to have some degree of craft, along with the talent. No one tries to laugh except bad actors. No one tries to cry except bad actors. How a character hides his feelings tells us who he is. Most people don't know that, and most actors don't do that. Therefore, there are a lot of actors who put me to sleep, that are considered good actors, but they're predictable and boring. I know how the scene is going to end before it ends.

Being an actor opened doors for me to explore my emotions as different people and characters, and expand my own inner soul.

I don't think an actor needs to necessarily go through his things to do his job. I think it's way more important to imagine. And then, when you're imagining, your experiences, your images and your own personal things will show up, but you keep imagining. You don't get stuck in your own personal things, otherwise you are telling your story in every character, and that's not interesting for anybody.

Regardless of how dark and heavy the character is the actor has to approach it with that frame of mind.

Working on camera is a different ballgame in the sense that it's far more intimate work, but the basics and the foundations of being able to create something that isn't necessarily your own instincts - is a character that you have inside your head - whether you're talking about television or film or theater, that still has to be the grounding work.

My job is to try and present the most fully-rounded character that I can, and bring a performance that people believe in.

I always wanted to do dramas. Ever since I was young, I wanted to be in a role where I could play a prostitute or a drug addict, because it's nice to be able to portray someone who is so far from you, which I love.

It's fun to play a character when you can't concern yourself with how sympathetic they are.

In the movie, you have to decide as an actor how you are going to give a character presence. You can't really move, walk, and talk like yourself. This creates something so you have to find something "other".

Acting is a marvelous profession ... If you can spend enough time playing other people, you don't have to think too much about your own character and motivations.