William H. Macy Quotes
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The emotions will take care of themselves. You don't have to prod them along. As a matter of fact, you get in trouble when you prod them along.
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All modesty aside, I think I'm good at reading scripts. The way I read a script is as fast as I can, all in one sitting, and I don't read many of the stage directions. I only read enough stage directions to let me know where I am, because they're always so verbose and mostly horseshit. So I only read the dialogue, which allows me to see the movie in my mind's eye in real time.
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I really love hanging out on the set, and I love the life, and all of that. But I don't think I could stick with this profession if it weren't for those 15 minutes a day when I get to act. That's the part I love. For some strange reason, it's the time that I'm the least self-conscious in my whole life.
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The reason they came up with the ratings board is that there are a lot of movies out there, and parents need some guidance. Not only for the kids, but for adults, as well. If you don't like to see a certain kind of film, there should be some rating, so that you know what you're getting into. But the present system doesn't work.
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At the end of the day, what actors really want to do is act a lot and not wait around in the trailer.
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There are statistics out that say 20 year olds, 18 years olds think about sex 90 percent of the time. They only don't think about sex when they're eating, and that's rare.
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I was a dog in a past life. Really. I'll be walking down the street and dogs will do a sort of double take. Like, Hey, I know him.
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If I like the story and it's well written, and it's a character I want to play and they'll pay me, then I decide to do it.
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Everyone hooks up with George Clooney. He's a genuinely cool guy. He's using his powers for good.
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We, in America, are so screwed up when it comes to sex. That's all we can see.
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The actor has the advantage - or the liability - of knowing, "It's going to be my face up there on the frickin' screen, so I better keep my wits about me. Nobody's going to care that I was bad because I was not happy. They're only going to know I'm bad."
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I have a tendency to say 'yes' to a script or no to a script. Not 'yes' based on a rewrite.
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I do love comedy, but I'm not brave enough to tackle a script whose goal is to make you laugh. That's tough. The ones that can do it, I tip my hat off to them, but I don't have that kind of humor or mind.
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It started with the Godfather, this operatic violence. I don't know.
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I'm not much of a preparer. I think sometimes as an actor you need to go out and learn some skills, but in terms of preparation for understanding the character, it's all on the page, and if it's not on the page, you're in trouble.
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Making a mistake means overshooting a scene, shooting too many takes, for instance. Long after you've got it, you just keep shooting.
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I think theater is powerful. The best experiences I had in the theater are more powerful than the best experiences I had in movies.
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I've written a lot of scripts that someone else directed, and it's absolutely vital that, if I'm gonna act in it, then I have to take off the writer hat and let the director direct.
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Nothing else counts except what you want.
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I love directors who talk action as opposed to emotion.
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Emotions are the natural result of striving for something. Every single scene has two or more people in it, and nobody wants the same thing, so they are negotiating this one way or another. The result of that negotiation will bring out all kinds of emotional stuff in you.
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It's not good for people to have the safety net too low... People can take care of themselves better than we allow them to.
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If I had my choice, I would do the same little independent films, but they would have $100 million budgets, so I could get paid a fortune and hang out in a huge trailer.
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Ninety percent of the preparation we do as actors is just jive. It doesn't do anything.