Lillian Gish Quotes

Once I reached my 40s, I thought to myself that if I'm going to play live now, I need to really mean this. I can't go out and be a little bit, for one moment slovenly in my choices as a performer. I mean, these people have paid a lot of money to be here, they've been through the nightmare of getting here, starving themselves waiting for us to get on stage, so I'm going to give them what they came here for.

I don't judge people who just hit "play," but I would judge myself if I did that. I wouldn't feel like I was earning my money, I'd feel like I was putting one over on people. I have to play the notes.

It's part of my responsibility, as an actor who has been lucky enough to have this job, to take my job very seriously, show up on time, know my lines, and give the best performance that I can because I'm doing something that so many other people work very hard to have and never get.

I was a hard worker, and I always knew my lines.

I'm the kind of person who always has to be on time and I'm incredibly professional.

You won't see me at a microphone singing and tapping my foot. I spend a lot of money on sets, costumes and sound. I believe people deserve a show. I'm a singer, musician, dancer. I work hard, and I'm soaking wet when I come off.

I remember, I was doing 'Jesus Christ Superstar' in London in the early '70s, and friends of mine had come over from Dublin, and they're knocking on the stage door after the show saying, 'Colm, come on, let's go for a drink.' I knew that if I went with them, I wouldn't be able to do my job the next day.

For me, you can't be a big fat pig up there, slovenly and singing croaky and whatnot. You have to work.

People pay a lot of money to go see shows now, they don't wanna know about your technical problems, or if you're not feeling good, they don't wanna know we have a glitch. It's their night, you better do something to earn that money.

But now it's just another show, you leave em laughing when you go. And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

To me, acting is a matter of absolute concentration. You can laugh and giggle with your friends up to the minute the director says, "Action!" Then you snap your mind into shape and into the character that you're playing and relate to the people that you're acting with and forget everybody else that you've been joking with.

I just try to do the best job that I can, as an actor. Hopefully, that carries through. That's all I can do.

When you're paid to do a job, it's better to give a few minutes more to it, than a few minutes less. That's one of the differences between doing a job honestly and doing it dishonestly! See?

The actors today really need the whip hand. They're so lazy. They haven't got the sense of pride in their profession that the less socially elevated musical comedy and music hall people or acrobats have. The theater has never been any good since the actors became gentlemen.

In film, other actors' performances really are not your concern. If the other actor isn't giving you what you want, act as though he were.

The man who fails to give fair service during the hours for which he is paid is dishonest. The man who is not willing to give more than this is foolish.

We never understood the concept of people going onstage and giving anything less than 100 percent. Maybe that's a blue-collar work ethic, but I call it just ethics.

To maintain a consistency when people come to see the band takes a lot of work; it takes a lot of discipline. I go to the studio every day and sing and play. I never did that when I was, like, 30. I'd probably have a drink and walk on - and see what comes out. But now if there's ten albums' worth of material people are coming to hear some of, and they've paid money for a ticket, you become a different person when you go on and you want to give the best show you can. You want to be better at what you do.

It's a lot harder to keep your cool than it is to lose it. That's on any work ethic. Even if you're a big producer on a movie set, or whatever, it's a lot harder to be a pro than be a baby on your crew. That's one work ethic to keep in mind, as one bad apple could give five people a bad day, when that one person could've stepped up their own efforts a little more and not bring anyone else down.

Without discipline and detachment, an actor is an emotional slob, spilling his insides out. This abandonment is having an unfortunate vogue. It is tasteless, formless, absurd. Without containment there is no art. All this vomiting and wheezing and bursting at the seams is no more great acting than the convulsions of raving maniacs.

I'm not a perfectionist, but I like discipline. I'm obedient, but I'm not a perfectionist. I think it's important to work your hardest and be as kind as possible to everyone you work with. The goal, every day, is keeping focused on that.

When you walk on the set, whatever it is, you commit yourself to the job. You're committing yourself to doing the best you can do with it, no matter what you feel about it, and that never changes.

Every good artist I know, I always think works hard, we're working all the time.

A man who cannot command his temper, his attention, and his countenance should not think of being a man of business.

Boxing is an ego-driven sport. The idea is to not get too personal or emotional with it. You just know when it's over, it's over, and that's it.