Philip Seymour Hoffman Quotes

Directing is something I always wanted to do. I started when I was 13 directing scenes in high school and then plays in college with my theatre company.

I have directed good actors and have gone through the process which is more detailed in theater in a way. You have to get people to stay for two or three hours in a performance. They need more talk and rehearsal than in films.

I've been acting for a while, but theater is pretty different. I've never been in a play.

While my megalomania knows no bounds, directing is one thing I have never really done. I directed a couple of plays. That was the extent of it.

My first real job as a director was working with Robbie Baitz on his play 'Three Hotels.' It was an incredible collaboration.

Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, seeing shows from the wings.

I've directed a couple of times in the theater, but I wouldn't make a habit of it because it's too consuming.

I've been onstage once for one performance with four days' rehearsal.

One of the things I find very difficult about theatre is the repetition - that something can slide away from your original intentions.

It's a whole different kind of anxiety. But the great thing about doing a theatre job is that once the ball starts rolling you just have to go with it, it's inexorable.

I have no interest in watching myself act.

When I was doing 'A Raisin in the Sun' with Sean Combs, we began in bed, and he would give me 10 kisses and an 11th for luck before the play began.

My first live performance was the lead in 'Peter Pan.'

I specifically remember doing the musical 'Sweet Charity' at Stagedoor. I was playing Vittorio Vidal, which is a very funny part, and some other small roles. I couldn't really sing that well, but there were so many fun bits, and I just remember the tremendous adrenaline rush I felt from being onstage and hearing the audience enjoying it.

With acting, I always feel conscious of what I'm doing.

Not all television scripts are created equal. And the process is ridiculous. They send you a script and want you in the next morning. That's not how acting works. You can do anything to me as an actor; I'm a very resilient guy. Just don't rush me. If you ask me to do it immediately with no time to prepare, I know you have contempt for actors.

I feel that once you go into rehearsal, you need to focus on the show in the room.

When I was 13 years old, a professional theater company in my town needed a kid actor. I auditioned, and I got the part, so for just a few weeks I became a member of the company and I met some professional actors.

There's a tremendous amount to be gained from being a performer, and being an artist, and being an actor.

I need to do more on stage. I've got to get my fix!

It's very hard when you're doing a new play that you believe in, and you want to tell the story in the best way possible.

What I always loved about theater is that that's an experience that a company of actors just sinks itself into for weeks, and you really get to work on the material, and by the time you're in front of an audience, you really own it.

I love getting ready to do a scene, and thinking about it, and talking about it. But the rest of the time, I'm so nervous and obsessed. I'm just tearing my hair out in the trailer. The whole time I'm really tense.

I don't direct the plays of others.

The reason I got into acting was not to explore myself. I was a reader, I didn't care about acting. I got into it in college, but I had no interest really in that, in getting up in front of anybody.