Joel Grey Quotes

I feel like there are things I can relate to in every character. But I feel like when you read a script, you don't get to see the definition behind someone, you just get to read what the person goes through and find a place to come from to make it real.

In the work that I normally do, you have a whole script, a whole arc, that you play. And I do believe a good actor will play every bit of information they're given.

If I'm doing my job as an actor, the audience knows everything I know about the character.

Also, in my acting, I feel very much like a storyteller, exploring the flaws of the characters that I interpret. I look for the imperfections, and I love a character that is just so flawed.

If I don't fall in love with my characters, I cannot shoot.

I think when you play a role, you always have to be a defense attorney for that character.

As an actor, you don't really have a say or a voice in what the conversation of the show is going to be. So, as an actor, I'm just trying to make sense of why the character is making these choices, and somehow, in that way, you can sympathize or root, at least not detest, what this person is doing. That's, at least, my job in telling that story.

I've always felt, even with sketches, that if you don't care about these people, then it doesn't matter.

I'm focused on finding characters I connect to.

Whenever you have a role where you don't get to know anything about the character, you have to invent it yourself. You have to feel like it came from somewhere.

For me, it's all about smaller character-driven pieces, about finding a person that I connect with and that I'm interested in bringing to life.

If we get caught up in a story, it's because we've started to care about the characters, and that can only happen if we've moved beneath the surface.

As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved.

When I approach any script, I always try to find what I would relate to most in it.

With films, you completely immerse yourself in a character, get into who they are, live it and then release it.

My school of thought with going into a character is that you have to understand where they come from, and you have to empathize with them.

When a script moves me, I find that I immediately understand a character. Of course not completely, but I do understand.

The audience has to understand that if the film is going to have any meaning for them. If they are going to empathize with the characters, they have to visualize the process of concentration involved in making every move.

As an actor, that's the best thing you can do, really take people along on a story and tell them something.

I am good when there is something central about the character. There is always a human theme I attach myself to. I am really looking for something that is moving or enlightening or something with depth as an actor. I look for these kinds of roles.

My job as the actress playing Hanna Schmitz, as the actress playing any part, is to understand the character, and to ultimately love the character. And I did love Hanna, absolutely, because I understood her as profoundly as I did at the end of the day.

When I look at a character, whether he's good or bad, one scene or 10 scenes, I just have to find my way in.

My characters are always utterly sympathetic to me, if that makes any sense.

I do think you need to understand a character's motivation and perspective.

I always find something in all the characters I play. I fall in love with them a little bit.