Claire Coffee Quotes

In acting class, teachers talk about how the 'givens' of a situation help define a character.

I never act my characters - I am them.

I try to allow the spirit of the character to live through me. That's the only way I know how to approach acting. I have to live it.

Actors have either got to play something that's close to them, or something that's the complete opposite.

Some actors can distance themselves from the parts they play, but I fall into the category who use bits of themselves.

You draw on whatever's relevant to the part you're playing; it makes it more personal.

In terms of jumping into a character's skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what's required to achieve what I want to achieve.

I don't even draw on my life experiences when I'm acting. I just try and make it feel like I'm living through that person's skin.

Once you're playing someone, you shouldn't be judging them in any way. That's what being an actor is - it's having empathy for people that are different from yourself. Once you've committed to that person, your responsibility is to tell that story.

I think, for every actor, the most challenging part of playing a character, specially a real-life character, is to convince yourself that you are the character.

The actor's job is to put themselves in the shoes of the character they are trying to portray as truthfully as possible.

When I'm playing any of my characters, I totally go into the realm of the character. That's when I'm able to come up with the most creative stuff, and I believe that's what connects with the audience.

What attracted me to acting, from the start, was playing different characters. I'm not a massive fan of just playing myself on screen.

I love acting... I really do. I love crawling into another character's skin. That's something that I've always, always, always, always wanted.

I love acting and really taking on another person, another life.

Transformational acting was the reason why I became an actor in the first place. Your hair and make-up and the costume are the tools that you have, and it makes you feel like that person. When you look in the mirror, you don't feel like yourself, and it changes the way you move. I love that stuff.

That's why I enjoy acting: getting in the mind of someone else.

All good actors are unpredictable, and a little crazy in a good way, because they feel more secure playing other people than themselves.

The first thing I do when I read a part is see if I can identify emotionally with a character. If I make that connection, everything else is just working on knowing their life circumstances and manifesting those through practice and research.

That's what acting is. You're pretending to be someone else.

If you think about what acting is supposed to be, my job is to disappear.

Ultimately, the idea of acting is to understand the people you're playing, and then where they're coming from is not so mystifying. You've got to detox a bit after, though.

When I act, a part of me goes into the character I am playing.

I think substitution is a huge part of acting, but I don't personalise my work that much.

I love doing characters that challenge me. I'd love to do something that requires me to change physically or learn a skill.