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As an actor, you don't have control over what you do, whom you work with.

You never really know as an actor; it's completely out of your control, in terms of editing, and music, and film stock, shot selection, and what takes they use.

As an actor, the first thing you're taught is, 'Don't look into the camera; ignore it.'

As an actor, you work to the script: that's our main priority. But you have to be aware and look around for things that help you bring that little bit extra, that touch of realism that rams the point home.

Sometimes I think being an actor is like being a dog for a director; it's like they throw a stick, and you want to fetch it and bring it back to them. You want a pat on the head for it.

When you are acting, you are just one piece of the puzzle. You don't see how everything fits together. It feels like you have less authorship over the entire product. In directing, you take the entire picture into account, so you're challenged in a different way.

As a director, you see something in someone; you know it's there, you just got to go get it. You do that with any actor. That's your job.

I always thought acting was all lights, camera, action. It's a job; you have to do your job correctly.

The whole business of being an actor is to explore, from research to shooting to why you do it. You're trying to see why people do what they do and how it feels to do what they do.