Actor Mindset Quotes

An athlete and actor are really two different temperaments, night and day. As an athlete you really keep things out and as an actor you really bring things in.

A film has a beginning, middle, and an end. There is a certain amount of time that you have to embody these people. You know the entire story arch. But on TV, you have to let your guard down. You don't know how long the show is going to last. There is this excitement that comes with developing a character long-term.

I'm forever testing myself. As a person and as an actor, I have no sense of competition.

I am very much in the instant-gratification camp. I am too much of an actor not to be. I am used to doing my work and having someone comment immediately. So I think that I'm a little hooked on that gratification structure.

I like character-driven stuff. It doesn't matter, the size of the part.

You're not a star until you love yourself. Directors, yeah, they've got to love their own philosophies. But actors have to really love themselves.

And as an actor - or even as a person in the industry - if you're unwilling to change, you're just going to get swamped. You've got to be flexible, and you've got to go with the flow. That's what I try to do as an actor.

I don't think of myself as a star. An actress is nothing remarkable.

For me as an actor, I use a lot of music. Music is a huge part of developing and getting into a certain mindset.

A lot of actors are like, 'Why do I do this? My character wouldn't do this? This doesn't make sense.' And in a comedy, you kind of just need to walk into the door.

It doesn't matter to me if I'm in love with my performance, so I watch all of my performances to understand and learn from them and figure out what's working and what's not. And I see the movies that I'm in in the theater a lot.

I never bring a role home with me. The moment they say, 'It's a wrap,' it's gone completely. I'm a totally ruthless professional, and life is my family, not my work.

As an actor, it's hard to approach any character with negatives.

You don't really ever think you're that crazy person you're playing.

As a jobbing actor, I never get a script and go 'I can't be bothered with this.' Life doesn't work like that. For a movie star, maybe, but for a jobbing actor, that doesn't happen.

Instantly when I'm acting, I kick into Frank Agnew face.

I forget about the relationship between myself and any actress when working with her.

I think a lot of actors, maybe who have been on a hit show and been lucky enough to get successful, might say 'no' more than I do. And maybe that's good, maybe that's smart. I don't know.

A good writer - and I think it's this way with actors too - even if you have two lines, you have to do the same complete work as if you're number one on the call sheet. If you get in an elevator and somebody gets on, rides two floors and gets off, that person has a reality that goes back to when they were born. They have memories, they have people, they have a life. They are doing something right now that the camera is on them in their space. We live in our own close-up all the time.

I think self-criticism is sort of a given when you're an actor. It's also about being curious and not being flippant. Anyone who accepts being in this noble profession is automatically self-critical.

I don't take characters home with me.

I have the mentality of a supporting actor.

I'll always be there because I'm a skilled professional actor. Whether or not I've any talent is beside the point.

I'm the sort of actor who doesn't really prep a lot - I don't do a lot of research for parts. I just go for it, and I usually pull through.

You have to start thinking a little differently as an actor.