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 don't know acting, but I choose good stories and portray emotions according to the story.
I've seen what a difference a good director can make to an actor's performance.
On television, there isn't much scope to do different roles. I try to bring some new shades to my roles, and I try to play them differently. I think I have been able to manage that pretty well.
My job, as an actor, is to give the director options. You can only hope that the takes that you thought were the best were chosen. But, then again, if I don't watch it, I'll never know.
A lot of actors aren't particularly good directors. And they're not particularly good with other actors. That's kind of a fallacy.
Any time I approach a scene, it's not just what's on the page - it's how the camera's going to show or not show what's on the page. It's which character are we going to align with and what music is going to be playing.
The better I am at observing moments in life, the better I'll be at showing them in my acting.
Reacting is so important to the craft of acting.
Actors need to know why they're saying what they're saying, more than just learning their lines.
I appreciate my role as an actor much more after I direct because it's just easier.
Alan Ball, he's good at challenging his actors, I'll say that.
I don't personally look to my own life experiences for answers about how to play a scene.
Acting isn't always about the amount of talent you have, or your ability to cry on command. The point is, how well can you take direction? How well can you put aside your own ideas or ego and listen to the ideas of the director and the people above you, while not giving up the passion and drive of that character?
In Punjabi film industry I am given full freedom to change the lines according to the situation. Directors believe in my gut instinct.
I mark a script like an exam, and I try not to do anything under 50 per cent. Similarly with the part. And also film is a peculiar thing, parts don't necessarily read in script form anything like as well as they can do when it comes to materialising.
If you look at me in 'Ride Along,' even though I'm playing two different characters, my demeanor and my tone were not aggressive.
I have always been a director's actress.
I've always felt it's the directors purview to say what; it's the actor's purview to say how. It's not good for an actor to have the big picture in mind - it bollocks you up. An actor's purview is the tiny little... We measure our performance in seconds.
My greatest strength as an actor is that I follow my director's brief completely. The film is always the director's visual baby.
There are lots and lots of good actors out there, and often it's just luck if what you bring to the table syncs with the director's vision.
Being an actor in movies is a lot about the power of your imagination and making the circumstance real to you so the audience will feel that it's real.
I always try to stick to the script because I want to respect the writers, and I want to respect the director. But if the director and my fellow actors are okay with me playing with it a little bit, then I definitely want to play with it.
I always wanted to be a character actor rather than the poster boy that they tried to make me 100 years ago. An actor has a degree of responsibility to change for the audience, to give them something new each time, to surprise and not bore them.
When I watch a movie for the first few times I'm usually thinking about where I was in a given scene, who was next to me, what we were doing etc. But after I've gotten through all of this, when I'm really watching the film itself, then I get moved.
