Shy since childhood
Clea DuVall has referred to herself as “an only child and I’m just a real loner kind of person, and yeah, kinda dark. But I’m happy. Not sad. I’m just shy and nervous.”
Like many other talented actors, she considers herself shy. Maybe acting – playing other people – is a way to use [...]

Harry Dean Stanton – compelling authenticity
“I play myself all the time… on camera and off. What else can I do?”
Harry Dean Stanton [photo and quote from the HBO.com section for “Big Love”]
Nicolas Cage thinks “Harry Dean exudes a spiritual awareness that’s steeped in deep sadness, and it’s so compelling to watch on film. He’s a [...]

Grace Zabriskie on obsessional mode
Grace Zabriskie commented recently about the article In Praise of Positive Obsessions, by Eric Maisel, PhD, and on the value of reading.
“I have for many years now extricated myself, without too much guilt, from social events with close friends by knowing I will be understood when I say that I am [...]

Annette Bening

“There is that part of acting where you’re just interested in human behavior and interested in unconscious versus conscious motivation, that you can use your intellect to study, just as if you were a writer, or sociologist, or teacher…
“But then what separates us as actors is that there’s this whole kind of emotional [...]

Ian McKellen on timing
Ian McKellen admits in a recent article that it has taken time and life experience to develop the self-confidence that now helps fuel his dynamic roles.
“Suppose it had been me who played Tom Jones [1963], not Albert Finney?” he said.
“There was never any question of me playing those sorts of parts. I [...]

Kristen Bell

Kristen Bell (“Veronica Mars”) noted recently how much of an impact acting can have on an actor: “It’s sort of a weird profession.. in that it manipulates your emotions. When you’re crying, you’re really crying. You’re not crying about anything you care about, but you still have the cry inside you, that feeling [...]