Emory Cohen Quotes

I feel that if you're going to do theater, you've really got to throw yourself into the deep end. You have to commit your whole life and soul to it to make it the best it could ever be because theater can truly change people in lots of different ways. But I also think it can bore people to death, and it's quite a fine line between those two things.

I am the kind of actor who will do just about anything.

I think that if you've got 5 million people that enjoy drama and invest in characters, you must take the time to not worry about your job and getting sacked and just go for it and hit it again.

I think if you want to make a performance authentic, there are a certain amount of leaps of faith into the unknown that you have to take. Otherwise, you're not really risking anything. I think if you don't risk something in art, it's not really important.

So you want to take the risk, and you want to step out there; you do it because that's what we have to do as actors. And sometimes in TV, it becomes big, and it becomes about the entertainment, but also, we have to focus in on the work.

In every artist there is a touch of audacity without which no talent is conceivable.

There was an old brochure for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts with a quote from Robert Redford or someone, that said, "You're only as good as you dare to be bad."

To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'

You're out there on a high wire without a net, and that's the way actors operate. They have to be fearless about how they work and they have to create a life for the audience in 90 minutes and make them believe.

What I try to do as an actor is constantly find that, find ways to risk, find opportunities to fall on my face if it's going to be worth it, and then maybe I'll surprise myself.

Artistic ambition is important. And it seems it would be a great time to do some theatre, like a new extreme.

Before I do a movie, I watch Meryl Streep movies over and over. It's not to mimic her. It's to remind myself to be more committed.

Each single gesture of art must be daring. One must not be concerned with the side-effects.

Art means to dare - and to have been right.

I'm an artist, and I like the risk - I'm not in it for the sure things.

It's a surprisingly sacrificial job being an actor.

If I have a 100 percent batting average, you should fire me, because it means we haven't tried anything really noble.

Acting is a bit of a heart and soul exercise with me. It's kind of all I've got.

I have a constant sort of melancholy approach to acting that fuels me. I want to do everything.

You know, back in acting school they always teach you, 'Make bold choices and look for activities that are interesting.'

You have to be willing to be afraid if you're going to be an artist.

The TED Fellowship exposed me to a set of youngsters who had wilder ideas than I did - and almost all of them were pursuing their wild and crazy ideas without fear of failure.

I like audacious ideas.

I grew up on the stage, where you just throw yourself into projects and don't get in your own way.

I've been acting for 30 years. It's a grind.