"Ordinarily if an actor gets chosen for the lead in a film, he or she has already built up a repertoire, and everyone knows what he or she is capable of."

Actor, Film

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"Ordinarily if an actor gets chosen for the lead in a film, he or she has already built up a repertoire, and everyone knows what he or she is capable of."

Exlpore more Actor quotes

"For a child actor, it's a matter of listening, reacting, and being able to put yourself in a new place without being scared."

Jena Malone, American Actress

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"The best research for playing a drunk is being a British actor for 20 years."

Michael Caine, English Actor

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"Directors, like actors, get typecast."

John Landis, American Actor

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"To my way of thinking, an actor's course is set even before he's out of the cradle."

James Dean, American Actor

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"Being a good actor isn't easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I'm done."

James Dean, American Actor

Actor, Being, Man, Want

"Being a working actor, you're going to do a Spelling show. It's hard not to."

Casper Van Dien, American Actor

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"Actors are able to trick themselves into treating anything as if it's fantastic. It's a kind of madness really."

Tom Baker, British Actor

Actor, Actors, Madness

"I had read the novel and I had heard David Lean was going to direct it - and it came as a surprise to me because American actors, if given the chance, can do style as well as anybody and speak as well as anybody."

Rod Steiger, American Actor

Actor, Actors, Chance, Style

"I had to choose between American and British actors, and it didn't take me more than a second to decide: Russians are Europeans and should be played by other Europeans."

Jean-Jacques Annaud, French Director

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"The worst thing for an actor is a director that gets on your nerves and says things that actually confuse you."

Stephen Rea, Irish Actor

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Explore more quotes by Zhang Ziyi

"Wanting to be in a Western film won't get me very far. Unless the opportunity arose, it doesn't matter how much I want to be in one. But if an opportunity did arise, no actor would pass it up."

Opportunity

"When I watch a movie for the first few times I'm usually thinking about where I was in a given scene, who was next to me, what we were doing etc. But after I've gotten through all of this, when I'm really watching the film itself, then I get moved."

Film

"I wanted to escape so badly. But of course I knew I couldn't just give up and leave school. It was only when I heard my mom's voice that I came out of my hiding place."

Mom

"There was one very special scene at the end of the film. My character, Zhao Di, has been sick. She wakes up and her mother tells her that the man she loves has come back from the city and had spent the day by her bedside."

Mother

"We're still working out the details, but I'd be delighted to do the film. The problem at the moment is my busy schedule. Shooting on this film has been extended by a month, but I need to be in the U.S. by Dec. 20."

Film

"From beginning to end I worried that Ang Lee wouldn't be satisfied with my work. So I worked as hard as I could to earn his trust, because you only get a chance like this once."

Trust

"There are actors who spend 20 years working and still don't achieve what I've achieved so quickly. So I think my only course of action is to work as hard as I can, not just for the sake of the film, but also to prove to these people that I do have talent."

Work

"Zhang Yimou is always going to need young, pretty girls for his films. But I don't really concern myself with what Zhang Yimou's next starlet looks like."

Concern

"The atmosphere at my school was very competitive. Young girls were competing with each other every day for status, for leadership, for the affection of the teachers. I hated it."

Leadership

"They're not willing to admit that I've also shed blood and tears and often paid dearly for my success. This makes me feel extremely sad."

Success