Quote

Basically, the way you get into any role is just doing research on the type of character you're playing.

Every role varies greatly, just as emotions vary greatly.

When you take on a role, even if the character is somebody that you are dissimilar to, you have to identify with the role and look for an emotional connection even if there is not a biographical one.

My criteria when looking for a role is that I will do anything that stands the chance of succeeding on the level it is intended to. After that, if it's a part I can do something personal with.

A man's work and the conditions under which it is performed are tremendous factors in determining his character.

I'm constantly thinking about the role, and there's an infinite amount of questions you can ask yourself about a character to the point that it's hard to find the boundaries of when to not work.

The thing is that, often if you have time to research a role, sometimes it's hard to know exactly where to start.

My first job when I got my equity card was acting in 14 plays back-to-back. Playing that many roles, you look for ways of differentiating the characters physically, which goes hand in hand with understanding them psychologically.

What happens with every role, you have to trick yourself, you have to creatively find ways to explore the mental state of your character.

Sometimes a character is really based on research that you do. Other times it's just based on your imagination or perhaps your conversation with the director. Or sometimes all of the above. It depends on the movie and character.