Jon Voight Quotes

A lot of people are surprised to hear that an actor studied for two or three years. They take the craft for granted and wanna just wake up and be an actor.

Anytime I met an actor, I just attacked them and said, 'How did you do this?' Eventually, I began to realize that you went to school for it. I wasn't a bright kid, so it took me a long time to figure that out.

Look at someone like Edward Norton. A truly phenomenal actor. He's definitely went to school and trained.

I would probably go so far as to say that I couldn't act before I met Richard Ayoade.

I wanted to be the best actor possible. I worked very hard at the craft of it.

Of course, in later years, I'd studied acting more than ever before - mostly with the late Stella Adler, who was marvelous! - but in my earlier years, I couldn't afford to do this.

I'm the type of actor that, if I'm not filming something, I'm in class.

I pray and try every day to be a better actor.

As I got older, I would study privately with some coaches. Then I found Lee Strasberg, which I loved.

I got into acting classes. I didn't want to just go by luck.

I was an assistant director for a year, and I realized, 'God, this is a lot of hard work. This is going to take time. So what's the shortcut? What's the better option?' Then thankfully, someone said, 'Why don't you become an actor?'

My advice to young actors is probably to do some theatre; definitely do that. I keep running into these actors who have never been on stage, and it's invaluable for an actor. What you will learn about yourself is huge.

I want to be the best actor that I can be; I want to be working in this business absolutely, and if that means being a movie star, then OK, that's fine. But to me, movie star, celebrity, all that stuff means something very different than being an actor.

Most actors nowadays are models turned actors. That's why a lot of young actors are terrible. You have to learn how to act. It is not something that you can just do.

I'm an actor. I was trained by Stella Adler, one of the greatest teachers of the world. I was 19 years old, and she frightened me to death. I was her houseboy for a while.

If I wasn't acting, I'd be teaching acting. That would be my easiest thing to fall back on is teaching it.

There are lots of people in the world who do have the advantage of going to a good drama school and just decide that they want to be actors. There's nothing wrong with an untrained actor; they have to get their training somehow, they have to learn.

My modus operandi is to become a better actor.

I went to a masterclass with Jonathan Pryce who said that a successful actor is not a famous actor, it's an actor who acts. And I have been incredibly fortunate to have worked constantly from the moment I left drama school, so I achieved what I set out to do. I am an actor.

I stopped modeling so I could go to drama school at the William Esper Studio. It's Meisner.

I would recommend any young person who wants to be an actor to go and get some training.

When you're 20 and you're in acting school and your teachers tell you that 95 percent of actors are unemployed for twenty years, you think it doesn't apply to you. But it does take twenty years to become real, because that's what you have to do to be an interesting actor.

In Jaipur, I did almost everything from regional theatre to Shakespeare's plays. But when I shifted to Mumbai, I joined Anupam Kher's academy, Actor Prepares, to hone my acting skills.

For me, it was much more important to continue to learn my craft as an actor and get a bit of flesh on the bones.

I will become a more mature actor and it's one of my dreams to teach acting as well.