I definitely still have my hand in acting. I don't think I would be able to walk away from it. It's my passion.
What do I love about acting? I love traveling, meeting new people, exploring and just doing what I love.
When I first started acting, I was just crap.
Everything in The Room, we did it the same way the big studios do it. The only difference is the budget and the actors. We put an ad in Back Stage West and in return we got almost 8,000 headshots from people who wanted to be in the film. We then do a process of selection and a rehearsal process after they are selected. The process of audition is very time consuming.
I'm still learning and trying to become a better actor. I still feel insecurity.
What is important to me as an actor is that, even if I have to spread my arms, take my shirt off on a mountain top with my heroine in a chiffon sari, it still has to be me and my twist or my funny take on it.
I find that a lot of the good acting comes out when you're physically being pushed: your brain turns off and just deals with the situation at hand. You get to a point where you're exhausted at the end of the day, but I quite like that.
You can't just tell actors, especially young ones, to 'act happy' and expect them to do it. They must in some essential way be happy.
Sometimes I might be sleepy, and sometimes I've literally been sleeping backstage, woken up, gone straight on stage or gone crazy. It's not like I psyche myself; I don't do any of that.
I had many, many mentors that I worked with. Music teachers, choir directors, directors in summer stock or in regional theater. You know, people I was able to work with repeatedly and learn from who were really sort of appropriate people for me to work with at a given time in my development as an actor.
In 1954 I was on Broadway for five months in 'The Matchmaker' and went once a week to the classes of Uta Hagen, a theatrical guru whose teaching in retrospect illuminated the whole of my training at the Old Vic.
In my heart of hearts, I love theatre. It's the joy and terror of putting a play on, the creativity of it. It is infinitely harder than film and television and more tiring. Your performance is heightened in the way it isn't with film.
The whole theatre world deeply attracts me. I love rehearsing and having time to make mistakes and laugh and discover things about yourself and other people - and the energy level is great.
I had always heard that theatre is for 'serious' actors but after actually having rehearsed day in and day out, I realize how challenging it is.
I don't ever recall being nervous before performing because I've already stepped into the shoes and the clothes of the character.
Obviously we had to study Shakespeare at school, but to be honest, I was not a fan. I found the language very difficult, and I didn't enjoy watching it or studying it. I auditioned five times for the Royal Shakespeare Company early on in my career, and I didn't even get past the first rounds.
When Sonic Youth wrote music, we would rehearse for months before anybody heard anything.
It's highly collaborative, musical theater, so everybody has got to somehow get along.
In theater, you have a rehearsal period and you know just who to be.
I think it's my job as a young actor to watch adult actors and take tips on the way they work.
Acting on stage is still my favorite thing to do. And everyone who's been in musicals knows that there is nothing more fun.
We're actors. We're the opposite of people.
My job as an actor is to live the role that I do.
I don't know acting, but I choose good stories and portray emotions according to the story.
It's great when improv is encouraged. It's a really fun thing. It depends on who's in the movie and how their process works as well. It takes a director who is open to that because you have a script, but then something funny could happen on set.
