Mignon McLaughlin Quotes
Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway.
Quotes to Explore
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What works for me is knowing the character in an emotional sense. I wish I was more logical but it doesn't work for me like that. I need quite a lot of time; it's why I always worry when I'm doing more than one thing at a time. I hope that some sort of magic will kick in.
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The Russo brothers are the best people ever, and they cast me in 'Happy Endings.' I did text Joe Russo to say, 'I don't think my character dies, so if you need a local news cameraman to show up in 'Captain America 2'... I know it doesn't make sense, but just hear me out on this!' He was really cool about it and turned me down right away.
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I'm proud that Della was sort of a prototype for TV secretaries. There really was no such established character on TV when 'Perry Mason' came along.
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Any character that can't be kept straight, to me, isn't a character who should be in the book – you know, anyone not vivid enough to have a claim on my attention.
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It takes a long, hard effort and sustained determination to reduce crime. We will stay the course and we are confident that the numbers will continue to go down.
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Since I was from the theater, that's how I learned how to go through the process of being a character. That's how I learned, and that's what I was comfortable doing. And then, the first feature films, I'm sure I was no fun because I did not want to be spontaneous in that filmic way that really can work for you.
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You take what you know, and you put it through your own prism. If I play characters that break down or cry, it's Gary Oldman crying; it's not the character crying.
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Always when I directed the play, I was always trying to cast people not who were necessarily like the characters, but people who I felt had the essential component that the character had, some kind of soul for it.
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Slater's a big star and he's been in the business a long time. He's always in a good mood and easygoing but he takes his character very seriously.
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My motto has always been that you can't say, 'Oh, it won't happen to me.' You have to say, 'That can happen to me.' So always be aware that things can happen.
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Integrity is the core of our character. Without integrity, we have a weak foundation upon which to build other Christlike characteristics.
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I worked also, doing things such as our paper route and, later on, waitressing.
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You'll be offered the 'lead' in this new hot film with such-and-such A-list director, 'a fabulous part' - a fabulous part? A fabulous part is a character with a soul, who starts here and goes to there, you know? There aren't many of those.
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The more people know about you, the more face-time you get in the media, the harder your job becomes to create a character in whom people suspend disbelief.
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My central strength as an actor is the fact that I'm 6 foot 3. A certain power emanates from my size, juxtaposed with the fact that I try to find an element of sensitivity in every character I play. People enjoy seeing that because it goes against what we're led to expect as far as the way men are supposed to be - macho and all that.
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When the audience first sees Cooper talking into his tape recorder at the beginning of 'Twin Peaks,' I think that's the greatest introduction to a character I've seen in my career. It tells you everything about the guy right there in a few minutes as well as bringing up a whole load of questions.
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The point is that filmmaking is a collaborative effort; it isn't about imposing your vision on other people. It's about the talking, you know?
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How often does one get to have a 20-year hiatus of a character and then come back as an adult?
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I think that's what you're doing when you go see a movie... projecting yourself into that situation. The more you can feel or see the thoughts of the character, I think the more you can live in that world.
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Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon.
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At the end of the day, it is about the album and book and also about setting the record straight, because 'American Idol' has done a great job of defaming my name and throwing a lot of mud at me for the past two years. So that set up a lot of roadblocks for me.
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We are delightfully trapped by our memories. I can't drink a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieux Telegraphe without revisiting a hotel bistro in Luzerne, Switzerland, where I ate a large bowl of a peppery Basque baby goat stew. A sip and a bite. A bite and sip. Goose bumps come with the divine conjunction of food and wine.
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I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time.
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Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway.
