On-the-Spot Acting Quotes

When I direct - everything I've directed has had improv in it, because I think there's something special in a performance the first time it's said out loud that's hard to recreate.

I've always been an improviser. I was one before I knew even what the word was... And acting, that I've been doing since I was 5.

The thing about 'Veep' is that you never really know where the camera's going to be. So you're not really just saying your line and then just watching it: you're trying to act the whole time just in case the camera is watching you.

Many times I'll improvise it, which isn't done a lot in movies or commercials. But a lot of my commercials are improvised.

That's why I love improvisational theater so much - you do it [scene] once and then it's done. You don't get bogged down with a lot of preplanning and repetition. If I do something and it gets a laugh, I don't want to do it again. Why bother? I'm just repeating myself. It's boring.

I am spontaneous and not a method actor.

I don't like to rehearse, and the film-makers that I have been drawn to are interested in provoking something between people rather than nailing a scene in advance.

In 'Boomerang,' they didn't have a script at all, they just told me to come up with some stuff.

Because I started my career in improv, performing with Second City and the Ace Trucking Company, I always enjoy being in situations where - as an actor - you have to think fast & be light on your feet.

What happens in improv is you create your own storyline.

What people think improvisation is and non-improvisation is, it's nothing to do with what you like or dislike. It's all about how it happens with certain directors and certain scenes. That's the way it works. It's not something, in general, that you can decide.

The great thing about being an actor in a film is that you're able to start knowing exactly where you're going to finish and really paint something in between. You can work to know the arc you need to build. Whereas in television, it is open-ended, and you're constantly guessing. There are pros and cons to both.

The cool thing about WWE is it's like entertainment boot camp. You're performing in front of a live audience, a different audience every night. You're doing promos in the ring. You're doing talking segments in the back. You're wrestling. You're performing. It's everything all rolled into one.

I'm not playing a fixed character on 'Comedy Nights Live;' in fact I would be seen portraying various characters.

Some shows, like PPG, tape in a group session, which is always more fun because you can play off each other.

Sometimes with films you have a freedom to be able to, Okay, we got that take so let's try another one where suddenly I'll say this, or you'll get to improv. You can't do that with stage. We have to make it new every time, and also within the structured settings.

I have always felt that doing too much of homework makes the performance look plastic. I don't even watch the monitor after I finish my scene because I can't reprise it. I just go with the flow.

Voiceover excited me and terrified me. I thought I was going to be really bad at it. It was so freeing and fun to not have to wait for 10 minutes between every setup. They just throw you a direction, and you just say it.

Theatre is more exciting in the sense that you can actually see the audience in the eye. You know there are no takes and retakes. You have one chance to do your job... and you better do it well!

I'm probably one of the worst actors as far as preparation goes, because I actually don't prepare. I find it easier to read the script and whatever hits me in my stomach, like deep down, I just go with it. And the director kind of molds me whether to go right or left with it.

I don't rehearse a lot. I try to keep it organic. Even in movies, the less I rehearse, the better I am.

Sometimes films have no rehearsals - you don't have real rehearsals on the set because the day is so dominated by the schedule.

'Eastbound & Down' is giving you a rhythm. It's just a whole different vibe with improv. As an actor I just kind of exercise within my environment and adjust depending on where I'm at.

From an actor's point of view, if you are watching something, and you see improv, you know it. Because of your experience, you just bloody know that wasn't written.

My first movie was totally improvised.