William H. Macy Quotes - Page 2

What actors are good at doing is walking into a situation that should make you incredibly self-conscious and frightened and doing it anyway. That's the gig, pretending that you are comfortable.

To a certain extent. I'm a fan of rehearsal on the day [of the shoot], more than getting together a week beforehand.

I'm a big fan of rehearsal. I'm famous for pulling the cast together, not so much to formally rehearse, but just to run the lines. My theory of acting is that it takes all your attention just to stay in the moment, and keep your attention on the other person, and get him to do what you want him to do.

Every scene has two people who want two different things, so there's conflict in every scene. You've got to duke it out, and you've got to get the other person to change his or her mind and do it your way.

Just learn the whole script before you start shooting. That makes shooting a joy. Even if they rewrite, it's easy.

That's pretty much what every scene is about, getting people to see your point of view. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

I love directors who talk action as opposed to emotion.

Many times, I like to read the script before I even know who they want me to play, so I can read it and really enjoy it as an audience member. I think that's given me the ability to ferret out the really special scripts from all the rest.

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.

I feel like a lot of the young actors that are just coming up are really good. I think directors are directing better.

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.

You'd much rather act with a pal, someone you know really well. That way, you can cut all the niceties and go right to insulting each other.

Actors are embracing a new aesthetic, which is leaning more toward truthful and simple and direct, as opposed to what we would normally call sitcom acting.

We must admit that it is quite common that people do have affairs with their leading ladies and men.

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.

With an inexperienced director, a lot of times the days go on to 14, 15, 16 hours. It goes horrendously overtime. And because of the lack of money, they just keep you there, regardless of the hours.

I'm drawn to a lot of first-time directors. One of the great common denominators in these small independent films is that there's a person, or two people, who have an absolutely monomaniacal passion to get these films made. That's what makes them happen. Sometimes, it takes years and years to finally get it done, but by never backing down, by never giving up, they get these films to the screen by hook or by crook.

Anyway, I try to be a good guy. I try to tell the truth, but I'm not religious.

I have been working out for 30 years, staying in shape in the dream that someday I would get to play a sex scene. Finally I get one, and they cut it.

The only reason an indie gets made is because someone has a burning passion to do it and won't take no for an answer, as opposed to a big film, which is like a train that starts rolling down the tracks and nothing can stop it.

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.

It was my first impulse, but I chose to play the priest as a true believer who was an absolute man of faith that absolutely supports the church.

One of the things I did early on in film was over-enunciate and talk too loud.

The character and the actor in a long-running series slowly become one. I think there must be funny stories about actors who, in the pilot for a TV series, did some weird thing with their eyes, or some speech impediment or something, and the next thing you know, it's eight years later, and they're still doing that freaking gag.

I'm sure I have a process, but it mostly takes place in my dreams.