If anything, it was a very egotistical thing because I wanted to move people. I wanted to tell a story and move people.
What you try to do, as an actor, is just make it work somehow.
In my ideal world, it would be a soulful connection to the role because you've shared a lot of the same experiences as the character and you just feel so right in it. That's the first thing I look for.
There's this feeling, when you stop believing it's a show and you're there and this is happening.
For a relative newcomer, it's obviously a dream to work with such a talented actress as Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar at 10, or something ridiculous like that. That's a dream.
After I've done a good job, then I can get excited. Obviously, it would be very easy to get carried away, but I wanted to own that excitement.
Having a good director is very important. It's crucial. When you do good work with a certain director, you want to work with them again, and hopefully vice versa.
You look for the roles where, when you read it, you're just like, "Yes, I know that. I know that feeling. I know what it means to feel like that. I know this person." When you have a soulful connection to a part, that's a dream come true.
You provide a lot of people with entertainment, and that's what will happen. I don't think you should ever feel like you're used to anything of that nature because you're no different from anyone else.
I felt like I had to prove myself, but I feel that you have to do that anyway, as an actor. You're there to do a job, and that's your primary concern.
Until I did my work and I did my utmost best, I feel like I don't have a right to feel excited.
An actor's job is to do their job. It's great if it's successful and it's fantastic when it's a huge hit, but at the same time, you're there to do a job and make sure you do it well.
You should always view any job as just as nerve-wracking or just as exciting as any other.
I just saw dialogue, in the audition, and had no backstory. I was like, "I'm just going to be myself because I have no idea who this is or where he's coming from." The typical questions that actors have to ask themselves were very hard. I had to imagine, a little bit, and just made it work.
It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought you, at the age of 12 or 13, could have a better understanding of Stanislavski. Why did you think that you didn't need to go to school?" It was quite funny. But, I was certainly inspired.
