I believe that you become a better actor only when you work with people far better than you are.
The hardest achievement in acting - in my opinion, anyway - is nailing a role that absolutely nobody else could have played. Pacino owned Michael Corleone... but DeNiro could have owned it as well. Who else, though, but Val Kilmer could have nailed Jim Morrison? Does anyone besides Will Ferrell pull off Ron Burgundy?
There are a handful of actors who sustain interest because it's exciting to watch them get better at what they do. I want to be one of those actors.
Anytime you have an opportunity as an actor to really grow along with your character, I think that's a real gift.
Anjelica Huston and Kelly MacDonald are both really special. Anjelica has such a fresh point of view about acting and doesn't seem jaded at all. She seems more like a student and yet she is veteran actor who really brings it.
I have been a fan of Yoo Ah In's for a long time. Every time I watched one of his films, I would think to myself, 'How does he act like that?' and greatly admired his acting abilities. I felt that I would be able to learn and improve a lot as an actor, just by observing.
I really love Robert Duvall, who I think is maybe the best American actor. I love Robert Duvall because the ability that he has to change and do the most amazing work.
I want to stretch myself as an actor.
I keep saying that, if Samuel L. Jackson and Bette Davis could have a baby, it would be Taraji P. Henson. To me, she's one of the greatest character actors of our generation, let alone leading ladies. She's just phenomenal in everything she does.
As for Aamir Khan, he keeps raising the standard with every film. For an artist like me or a newcomer like me, we can only look up to that and dream, 'When will that be us someday?' There's so much to learn from him. He is the encyclopedia of acting.
Meryl Streep is my favorite actor. She is so classy and a brilliant actress. Her performance in 'Sophie's Choice' just kills me.
I grew as an actor just by watching Kamal Haasan acting. I had the good fortune of being able to observe Kamal Haasan from close quarters.
I do think that there are certain parts, if you are lucky enough to play them, that are bigger than you, and they stretch you. I don't think you become a bigger person, but you develop certain muscles you didn't have before.
I'm not Meryl Streep. My God - she's the greatest actor that ever lived. It's sad that ordinary actors like me are compared to her.
If Brando can do Capote and I can do Brando - well then, I can do Capote.
I know that every actor that I know, when Daniel Day-Lewis does a film, and he doesn't work that often, but we run to the theater to see what he's up to, and with such delicious excitement. The same goes for Meryl Streep.
To disappear your complete self into a character is quite difficult. I've tried it 85 times, and I've succeeded two or three times.
To be with Derek Jacobi and Stellan Skarsgard, it's a master class in acting every day.
It's not like you reach a point with your acting where you're like, 'I'm great! That's it!' You're constantly having to go,'That sucked. I wanna do that better.'
Tortured characters are, I think, an actor's dream.
I took acting classes, and I'm always trying to improve myself. Everyone can improve, and the more you work in the industry, the better you are going to feel about it.
Craft comes into acting later rather than sooner. I was somebody who had to learn through a process - a natural actor doesn't need to.
When I went to acting school, the kids that got the best grades were the kids that could cry on cue. But it didn't really translate into careers for any of them, because the external is the easy part.
When Orson Welles was acting in 'Compulsion,' the director Richard Fleischer let him just take over and direct the courtroom scenes. To be able to see Welles - who knew more about directing than anyone - direct himself and the other actors, it was unbelievable and unforgettable.
My old man, he's done it very differently from me. He had years of honing his craft and years of doing all that stuff before he even had to worry about 'Game of Thrones.' So he's absolutely established himself as an actor without the fear of having to have a personality as well.
