Elia Kazan Quotes

One of the first auditions I had in New York was for a commercial where I had to go in and audition to be a snake charmer... It was either some bank commercial or something where they wanted a guy charming a snake... I remember they wanted to know if I actually knew how to snake charm.

An actor is only merchandise.

My husband acts and I have such respect for those that do it well, that I wouldn't even try to pretend I can act.

I didn't know I could sing until I auditioned for 'Les Miserables.' My friend was auditioning, and I wanted to audition too.

It's well known that actors are lousy writers.

You learn more discipline in the theatre than you do in movies or TV. You're on stage every night and you have to sustain your energy level tor several hours.

Acting has been very useful to me.

If you can jump up onstage and make people laugh, shouldn't you also be able to inhabit a character?

I'm an actor. I play roles in films and theaters. I don't act out, and I don't play people.

I don't get dressed up as the character to go audition.

I wanted to be an actor, like, so, so bad. I took acting classes, I auditioned for Disney, and then I realized how nervous I got with remembering lines.

During the fourth year of college, I heard about auditions for a musical for which I got chosen. There after, I continued acting in plays and improved.

Singing and composing come naturally to me, but acting does not. I have worked at it and attended several workshops to learn the craft.

Talent is out there. But sometimes it doesn't work. You're going to find people who you think are wonderful, and the minute you turn on the camera, they just don't understand the concept of acting.

My father is such an amazing, beautiful actor. He's incredible, and he helps me a lot.

It's every actor's dream to be called the character's name.

Being in the profession of acting, I definitely have to be a people's person and socialise when it's an absolute necessity.

I have been doing this [acting] for a really long time, so I've come to expect things to take a really long time. You get to a place where you do your job and then you dust your hands off and say, "Okay, my job is done. Now, it's in the stars. We'll see what happens." There's nothing I can do to affect it.

We're actors, we have to do what we have to do, and you have to be really solid within yourself.

I think acting is the most difficult one among all the performing arts.

I love acting, though I don't like the frills around it - red-carpet appearances, dressing up to look a certain way.

Before I started acting, I'd never wear makeup.

People assume that displaying your own personal ego on screen is called acting, which is actually not what acting is about.

Acting is learnt, not taught.

One of the many joys of being an actor is to understand the human psychology.