I didn't understand how you could be an actor if you didn't also study philosophy and study political science astronomy. And also just go out and live life and have experiences.

I used to sit near Marilyn Monroe in the Actor's Studio. She'd get dressed up because that was her identity. Sad. Those cameras wouldn't leave her alone. She didn't know where to hide.

All the things that happen to people in the industry today the actors what they have to put up with all the people wanting to know every single moment of their lives - I think it's really sad.

My father comes from a generation of film that actors my age don't even know about which is really sad.

Nowadays you really have to pump out that blockbuster in order to have the luxury of getting a body of work and that's sad because the work suffers. Today everything is based on money. The older actors they inspire me.

With the other fellow actors who have gone astray I think it's sad that society wants to label the business as doing this to people. It's really not true.

The thing about romance and romantic movies is that they can be somewhat melodramatic. For a lot of actors there's a certain cringe factor that's involved with that.

As an actor I've grown considerably. It's taken me years to get comfortable doing a romantic scene and dancing on stage in front of a live audience. I've really opened up a lot.

I don't feel like a romantic lead I guess I feel more like a character actor.

You're an actor are you? Well all that means is: you are irresponsible irrational romantic and incapable of handling an adult emotion or a universal concept without first reducing it to something personal material sensational - and probably sexual!

You know I always got offered other stuff. Not the romantic leads obviously. But very often it's a role that's underwritten where the character has no personality at all. And they need a character actor who can fill it in.

We are talking about someone who has lived. It must be honored in every respect. The fictional can take any kind of channel - according to the actor's marriage to the character.

The actors I respect are the ones who see it as a career and manage to live reasonably normal lives like Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The worst thing that an actor can do is go into any project with a lack of respect for the material. You can have an opinion about it but you have to respect yourself in doing it.

You respect all of these people that you know in the business as actors. And they sort of turn around and say we really like your work. It's a nice acknowledgment.

I work on a TV show I love I have the opportunity to do movies with actors I respect and I'm in love with the man I want to spend the rest of my life with who pushes me and excites me.

I would love to direct but I feel like directing is a whole separate craft and so I tend to respect it as a separate craft that I would need to study first. So right now I'm still trying to do certain things as an actor and until I get bored of that or I feel completely fed by that then I'll move into directing.

I don't wilt easily and a director can't either. He's the captain of the ship and he's got to be in total control. He also has to have respect for the people he's working for. From being an actor and being on a set my whole life I'm very comfortable there. And I'm not afraid.

This acting's serious! And I really respect those actors. It's a tough business to be able to be something you're not and be natural and convince people on camera.

I had found English audiences highly satisfactory. They are the best listeners in the world. Perhaps the music-lovers of some of our larger cities equal the English but I do not believe they can be surpassed in that respect.

I've always wanted to work with Blair and finally the timing was right. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I think he's a hugely underrated actor in Hollywood.

I saw and I met a lot of people who were in the field. It also provided a context in which I came to respect what the actor did because I saw how difficult it actually was to do.

Directing has only increased my admiration and respect for what it is that actors do.

As an actor you really want to respect and honor the script. You want to try to be in the moment and you also realize that you're one part of a bigger picture and when they call action you have your dance.