Costume Impact Quotes

The bikini scenes in 'Billa' were vital because they showed me as a seductress. I'd like to say here that outfits define a character and help an actor, say, 30 per cent, the rest depends on one's histrionic skills.

It makes a huge difference in how you feel, the way your costume holds you. When you look at yourself in the mirror, it makes you feel a certain way. Actors like to talk a lot about working from the inside out, but there's a lot to be said also about working from the outside in. It can be extremely helpful.

If the costumes are wrong, you feel awful in them and it lessens your acting.

I know a lot of actors talk about the importance of wardrobe, and it always seems like it's kind of a cop-out, maybe, because it seems like a minor detail to some people. But I think it's hugely important.

I've done a few costume dramas, and people say, 'What was it like wearing the costumes? Did they really help you with your character?,' and most of the time it doesn't make any difference. You're wearing something a bit weird, and it's sort of uncomfortable, but it doesn't really have a huge impact on the part that you're playing.

The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story.

Wardrobe is - in films, I could say it's a good half of the acting. You get the right rags on, they'll talk for you.

When you're wearing jeans there's a shift in your center of gravity. A costume like this and a character like this, there's no way to hide. If you try and play him any way sort of modern or normal, you diminish. He's larger than life. He's 150 percent. You've got to go for it all the time. It was just impossible.

Wearing a corset, a ball gown, heels and a swan hat with wings to fight in the forest gave me a whole new appreciation for everyday clothes, because you really become that alter ego while wearing those costumes in those environments on the set. They just influenced everything you tried to do.

Once you embody the language, the character comes really naturally, especially when you put the costume on.

For me, the costume is very important. More the feel of it than the look of it. I take it more from the inside. So if I wear something that's heavy, it will affect my character. Is it very tight, and do I feel almost imprisoned, or is it very comfortable? It's the feeling of the costume that tells me where to go with the character.

When you wear the costumes in a period drama, you already feel like a different person - the clothes make you stand differently, change your posture, the way you walk. You really have to have stamina - you have two hours in hair and makeup, and then another hour to remove all that.

Costume is a huge part of getting into character. Your body soaks in what you're wearing, and you turn into someone else.

If you have the right costumes you feel more confident as the character, they really help you act.