Justin Kurzel Quotes

As an actor, it's crucial you keep your ears open, especially when you're playing opposite comedic legends in almost every scene.

I was amazed by the kind of preparation Hollywood actors do for their roles.

I guess I'm probably a Method actor; I don't know... I just think of it as staying in the zone.

There are two schools of thought: There are those actors who explain to you that they know exactly how they're going to do the part... And then there is the other method, which is to have no method at all. This is mine.

When you're acting in a scene, you're focused on doing the scene. You can't break character and go, 'Oh my God, I love what you're doing!'

Acting is reacting. You can't react if you're not paying attention, if you're not listening.

When I do film, I really take on roles and I take on characters.

I think if you're an actor, then you can work on stage - but if you've never done it before, you're going to have picked up a few things that you're going to need to change when you're working on stage.

I think acting really helps as a director. It's just no question, because you totally understand the acting process.

As an actor, I like to get a bit of momentum going with a character and kind of work a bit quicker. I mean, not crazy-fast, but, you know, five or six pages a day is a nice pace.

I mean, a lot of time rehearsals are taken up with other things other than preparing a character.

With any actor, if you know your character well enough, you'll know pretty much what he would say under any circumstance, or whatever situation might rear its head.

Good actors, especially when they know their character, will come in and either tell you in advance that they have an idea, or in the middle of the rehearsal or the scene they'll let it loose and you go, 'Ah that's great.'

Part of an actor's job is to draw up a back story.

I like to rehearse with the actors scenes that are not in the script and will not be in the film because what we're really doing is trying to establish their character, and good acting to me is about reacting.

I don't think film actors need training, really.

I thought acting was all about natural instinct but I've realised, through working with so many talented actors on 'Wild Swans' and 'Run,' that I can see the training. That's why I am back at drama school.

In every film, whether it's a fictional character or not, you create an idea of the character and for me I always do a bad impersonation to start with.

I try to create as many circumstances outside of set that help me fall into character when I get onto set.

The rehearsal is where it all happens for an actor.

One of the first lessons you learn as an actor is to listen.

Sometimes you do complete run-throughs of scenes, sometimes you break scenes down into little bits. It just depends on what the actors like to do. It's almost like jamming.

The process of rehearsal means you learn so much and really get the chance to develop your work on a character.

It's not like every actor needs to train, but an actor will either develop their process through training or through working.

I'm a Method actor. I spent years training for the drinking and carousing I had to do in this film.