T'Keyah Crystal Keymah Quotes

I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and I wasn't the biggest, so I got real good at running my mouth and making people laugh and using humor as a way to not get into fights.

I was very shy and had low self-esteem; the only way to stop yourself getting beaten up was to turn your hand to being an idiot. At the beginning, it was survival, and after that, it became second nature.

I don't like improvising on camera, particularly, but very often, a scene will not be working, and you rehearse it once or twice, and you realize something's missing. So I'll play with it until it makes sense.

In high school, I could get beaten up all the time, or I could be something better. I became the court jester.

I remember being told very early on, 'Just say what they want to hear in the audition, and we'll figure it out later on.' So there have been a few tricky moments. I once said I could ride, when the truth is I'm terrified of horses, but I got the job!

We're all playing a role. You're playing a role at home, you're playing a role at work, you're playing a role to survive.

(Acting) is an extension of life. How you're capable of performing in your life, that's how you're capable of performing on screen.

I think I'm a very intuitive actress.

I can act... well, kind of. I'm comfortable in front of a camera.

Al Pacino never looks like he's being filmed.

There's only two kinds of actors - good ones and bad ones... and lucky ones and unlucky ones.

You can put my dad in any situation and he's going to figure it out. He's going to figure the people out and how to get along, how to make everyone comfortable.

I would never ever want to be an actor playing anyone other than myself. I can't do voices or anything. No, it's not for me. There are lots of people who are trained actors and I feel it's offensive for me to do it.

I have always been dramatic, so I think being an actress comes naturally to me. I think I am pretty good at it.

By the time I was in high school, I was big enough to beat the hell out of everybody who said anything to me. And I learned how to blend in. All of that made me a very confident man. A very aggressive man. I developed it to survive.

As we get older, we become more political in terms of survival. We realize a certain amount of cunning is necessary and that you just end up a victim when you are totally honest in an environment where those around you arent. It's a matter of remaining true to yourself while continuing to move forward.

I learned at an early age to be socially effective while practicing disappearing.

I find it very strange when people say that they are trying to solve 'Uncle Vanya' or find a solution for 'Henry V.' Plays aren't puzzles. They are about playing. But so much theatre has become about performing and acting rather than playing, which is a great pity because audiences are captivated by watching people play.

Even though technically the fundamentals of acting are always the same in every medium, what's different is the size.

I now realise I'm a great actor.

To be a good actor, you need to be able to emote with your body.

You have to run, an awful lot, on instinct. Even on 'Veep,' it's not like you get weeks of rehearsal to break out what's going on in the scenes.

I was 16 and standing on Tottenham Court Road when this woman came over and asked me if I was an actress. She wanted me to audition for an online drama she was directing. I had time to kill, so I thought, 'Why not?'

I always feel to do mythological and horror shows you need to be terrific actors. I am not that good.

Physical comedy and musical theatre were never actually in my main focus at school. I was more of a dramatic actor. I always thought I was better at that.