Scene Partner Quotes

I sit every once in a while and I think about plays and films I can do with William Petersen into our eighties. He's the most incredible scene partner I've ever had.

My definition of a character actor is - they never get the girl.

You always absorb a lot from a great actor. What you want, as an actor, no matter where you are in your career, is a partner who's going to bring everything they have to the scene.

I loved working with Janel Parrish and Anna Cathcart.

That is one of the reasons one enjoys acting. Now and again, you get scenes where you work with somebody really good and you have a good time trying to make it really work and really work well.

The moment when I was informed about sharing screen space with Irrfan Khan, it was the most thrilling moment for me.

Working with Brando was fun. It was like a tennis match. We played unbelievably well together.

When you act with phenomenal actors, it makes your job much easier because all you have to do is react.

The better the actor I am acting with, the better my performance gets.

If you're working opposite an actor who can act, then all you have to do is listen and respond.

Film acting, if you don't play the lead, you come, and you do your scenes in a few days, and you act with a couple of colleagues. All the rest of the actors you never see, and you don't even meet many of them. And you don't know what will happen with what you've done. Maybe it will be in the film, maybe it will not.

I will do plays as long as they're interested in having me do them. It's the biggest opportunity to learn the most about how to act. Something I discover every time I'm doing one is how little I know about acting - how important the art of listening is, and how important it is to listen with your entire body. You can tell so much of a story with stillness, and a lot of that can be from really actively listening to your scene partner.

A question I get asked a lot is 'What is it like to play the straight guy all the time?' And I'm totally okay with it.

For any actor, it's very important to make your co-star comfortable.

As an actor, you generally want to see the other actor's face.

My job as an actress was to be a good scene partner to Martin Wallstrom, who plays Tyrell Wellick.

I can tell you Kristen Hager is one of my all time favorite people to work with ever and one of the greatest scene partners, and I'm such a lucky guy.

I want actors. I want to be with other people. I don't wanna be alone, because of the connection when you're in a room, in a scene with someone, and it comes to life. You feel like the moment is something magic.

Working opposite Max Greenfield is the best job in the world. He's just incredible.

When I get to work with people I admire, it's such a bonus, so it was an easy sell when I got this phone call asking, 'Will you do this thing with David Strathairn?'" Also, they didn't ask me to audition, which is another bonus. But they said, "All your scenes will be with David," and I said, "I'm there!"

Steve Carell is the most spectacular ad-lib improviser ever. And just doing a scene with him, it's just one incredible topping himself on every take.

I know that I'm a decent actor, but it's another thing to be in a scene with Jon Hamm and hold your own.

I love performing. I love doing improv. It's a totally terrifying experience, but it's something that I've always felt so strongly about and that I'm kind of obsessed with. And just as an actor, it's a great exercise. It's a great playground, you know, to try things out and to work on your skills. Because the mandate of improv is kind of the same as acting: It's all about your scene partner, it's all about being present and in the moment and exploring together as a team, a collaboration.

My performance is totally dependent on what the other actors are doing.

You are preparing yourself for a scene, and the most important thing is to remain emotionally available and remain in the moment with your scene partner. You don't want to let your own self-consciousness block the flow of creativity that's coming out so that you can act and react, and play what the scene is all about.