Alan J. Pakula Quotes

I like a lot of takes. I just go on until the actors get it right.

You can't act for the editing. You just go in and do the scene the way you think is right.

Once we got the scene down, we were told to improv.

I like to have the actors do their thing. And then brief them what to do differently in take two.

In the studio the director controls the actor's every move, every inflection, every expression.

On film, when you're driving home from the set, you realize what you should have done, but it's too late. When you're taking the subway home from your play, you realize what you did wrong, and you go back the next night and you do it better, or you screw it up again in a different way. It's a different thing altogether.

Some actors don't even read the stage directions at all.

As actors, we need to do our parts exactly the way they have visualised it, because if we don't, we have to keep doing it many times over.

When the scenes are written really great, we as actors try not to mess them up by getting in the way.

I'm an actor. I'll take a lead if it's offered. The really good actors can fill a character, no matter what the role is. A good leading man is a character actor; a good character actor can be a leading man.

In theater, you get to rehearse several weeks, you memorize everything, and by the time you open, you know what the play is. In film, it's almost the opposite. You do your work on your own and maybe have a couple of minutes to rehearse. When the camera rolls, you generally don't know what's going to happen.

As soon as you get two actors in a room and they're locking eyes, they're doing a scene.

As an actor, I am meant to dabble with different themes and genres.

On my first TV job I didn't have a clue. They'd tell me to hit my mark and I had no idea what they meant. You just pick it up. And ultimately, all it's really about is pretending to be someone else.

That's the only way to do it. Just like an actor. You can get a great performance if you do a bunch of takes and edit it. You find the moments and string them together.

British actors are pretty good, by and large, at turning on at 'action' and off at 'cut.'

You have to have wonderful actors for material, particularly difficult material that requires complicated performances.

I think the hardest thing I've had to learn is that just because people might speak a certain way in real life doesn't mean it's engaging in the theater.

I enjoy working with actors so much and having the chance to be surprised by them.

When you're on film or TV, essentially you're in front of the camera. Unless it's a Tim Burton thing, the desire is to be real and grounded.

A lot of actors, we aren't that special; you get a well-written scene, and it's virtually actor-proof.

There's a rhythm and a cadence in a scene, and when an actor understands without any real direction from you, then that's a very valuable gift. And some people get it, and some people don't.

I work according to the kind of character they want me to play.

It is very nice to have good actors with you.

All I can do is keep my nose down and shoot the scene, shoot the scene, make it funny, make it funny, make it funny.