Cicely Tyson Quotes

When I am rehearsing for a play, I try to read nothing that might distract my concentration from the work in progress.

I try not to think about any of the production side of things. If you do, you tend to get unfocused and distracted. I just try to think about the character and the scene and what I'm doing.

Whenever I am acting, it's everything, you know. If I'm researching a role, I'm completely consumed in that and, between action and cut, I live in this suspended time.

When I'm on set, I do whatever I can to find my focus.

I never went to stage school or anything like that. It was always plays, productions at school and things like that. The thing for me with acting was it was the only thing I could fully concentrate on. I loved playing sports. I didn't really love studying.

I think the most important thing for an actor is reading the script and trying to figure out if you can play that character well. The last thing on my mind is if the director made good movies previously. It's not my job to know if that director's last movie was any good - it's my job to know if I can play the role.

If a script is good, you are 10 steps into the part just reading it. But my choices are not all down to my taste. It is about people you have worked with before.

Once I'm on set, the only thing I'm really interested in is being in the room. Being present. And trusting that what I've done is sufficient, and I'm also trusting that I've also left room for magic.

When I'm offered a role, I look at what I think I can do with it. I look to see if I can project myself into it.

The only thing that I can contribute as director is to work with the performers in a way that brings out the drama.

I do try to look at scripts and keep an eye out for challenging roles.

Preparing for roles sounds so academic, doesn't it? It feels as if you are preparing for an examination! In a creative medium, the preparation is of an entirely different kind, and for me, the ideas flow from the script itself.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

To be fair, when I started doing 'Verdict' I literally had no idea what I was doing. I wanted to do some theatre, as I wanted to do something different. I wanted to learn and get an understanding of the craft.

There's acting, and then there's auditioning; mastering auditioning is sort of the first thing an actor really needs to nail down when he or she wants to get a part.

In theater, there's a lot of work to do to build the characters. It's a great experience.

I took my play very seriously, and I got way, way lost in my play world.

Part of the fun of acting is the research, finding out about other people.

I'd also like to do a play. I've never done theater, and constantly changing and refining a performance is something I'd like to do, even though it may sound like work to some people - and it probably is work.

I always used to say, as a director, that I could make anybody good in a movie if you found the right part. It all comes down to casting.

I want to do primarily film and theater; I always want to do a play because it feeds my soul. It's like an exercise on stage.

It's very good for me to remember what actors go through.

Working with actors is something I've never done before. I find it tremendous. It's hard work.

The way I choose parts is I look at the scripts... I choose a part by whether or not it challenges me.

It's a surprisingly sacrificial job being an actor.