Carrie Preston Quotes

I love actors, both my parents were actors, and the work with actors is the most enjoyable part of making a film. It's important that they feel protected and are confident they won't be betrayed. When you create that atmosphere of trust, it's in the bag - the actors will do everything to satisfy you.

Any director who's also acted understands the fact that every person has a different process and has to be approached differently.

Working with actors is something I've never done before. I find it tremendous. It's hard work.

Actors aren't stupid, mostly, and if there's a sensibility and an aesthetic that a director's going for, if you're aware of that too, you can do things to help that.

As a director, I also get to sit and watch actors and learn from them in a way that I don't get to do when I'm just acting.

As an actor, I love working with directors. As much as I love working with other actors.

The best thing an actor can be is flexible, because all directors are different and all actors are different.

I learned one thing from De Niro: He taught me to listen. Nobody says anything strictly from the script. It's improvised. It was the best piece of advice I have ever gotten in my life. It has helped me through the past thirty years.

I am a director's actress in general - I depend a lot on them.

Working with a great actor is really educational.

I'm an actress who likes a strong, communicative director.

Being an actor helps me direct a little bit, when I do that, which I haven't been able to do that much, but I plan to in the future. There are a lot of reasons for that, but certainly because I feel like you know how to talk to actors, and you know what they need from you if you've been one yourself.

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 love actors, and I love the casting process. It's funny, like, some writers don't like actors because, I think, they are the faces of the show, and so you feel sort of secondary, but I love actors because they elevate the material; they make it better.

The best way to learn how to work with actors is to have had experience of trying to act yourself - it will teach you humility if nothing else.

It took me a long time to realize that you have to have a bit of an interlanguage with actors. You have to give them something that they can act with.

My acting experience has been a benefit. What I learned from directors is how to listen to and talk with actors. I know how they think and what they need.

I think what makes a good actor's director is somebody who understands what I'm doing and is respectful of it, but who also has a vision and is directing me toward their vision in a way that feels productive.

Actors have their own processes, and if you want to be respectful of their process, you've got to communicate with them in the language of their process, and keeping that all straight is a little bit of a head-scratcher.

One rule which applies to every role is that you have to surrender yourself to the director with an empty slate.

I am completely a director's actor. If the director gives me the liberty and freedom, then I give my inputs. Otherwise, I just follow instructions.

I have realised I am a director's actor.

Good actors can tell you more about your play than 1,000 hours alone at your desk.

I'm the girl that waits for the director to say, 'I like that,' or 'Can you boost it up?,' or 'Can you pull it down?' I'm that kind of actor. I started in theater, so that's the feedback that I'm accustomed to. It's the feedback that I really thrive off of.

Mike Leigh taught me about making choices - as an actor, you choose between being honest and clever, and with Mike, it's always about being honest. I learned how to behave on a film set from Jim Broadbent. He was a great example of someone with a fantastic career who kept his feet on the ground.