My publicist told me not to talk about politics but, yes, I think we have a president who stole the election.
Liev Schreiber
I love my mother and father. The older I get, the more I value everything that they gave me.
I have Slavic fat pads that make me look like a chipmunk and arched predatory eyebrows. With that, you're not going to get funny. That's why I play so many bad guys.
You'd think true masculinity was just calm and collected happiness. So alpha male that it needs not or worries not. But typically masculine characters are always fighting, and most violence comes from some agitated level of fear and anxiety.
I find old women at weddings and funerals attractive; I have this weird mortality thing.
I did some research into what was going on in terms of the sexual revolution that was happening in the '60s in the gay community and particularly in the drag world. Before the '60s, guys doing drag would dress like their mothers or iconic Hollywood actresses.
That's really how I got started was doing Shakespeare. When I got out of school, I was lucky enough to meet George Wolfe, who ran The Public Theater.
It's good to overexpose yourself with work. But don't expose yourself too much with the press.
There's nothing more exciting than that conversation you have with a live audience. It's the best feeling in the world.
The premise for me has always been that it's vulnerable people who do violent things. And the more vulnerable they feel, often, the more violent they are. But I think, you know, that's an idea that comes from history, from classical theater, for me.
I've never been a heavy practitioner of the method or, at least, with any specific intent; I'm kind of an impulse-based person. Like, I'm sort of waiting for something to happen that I'm not expecting, and I kind of want to jump on that train of emotion, whatever it is, both from myself or from the other actor.
I love having that creative discussion where, at the end of the day, you both feel better for having done it. Maybe it's a typically Jewish thing, where you sort of go at each other.
I find that the most interestingly written parts happen to be the bad guys.
I struggle with the idea of comparing people's work and art. The notion of giving awards or putting a competitive spin on something that is a relative art form is sort of odd to me.
I get very nervous around famous people and I get nervous around beautiful women.
You should never ask actors about politics.
I was always curious about motivation and intention, and really, that's a lot of what acting is.
Home is New York.
My style was always intuitive. I never used to believe in working on your body. Anything that smacked of vanity to me was bad for your acting, but I learned that wasn't true.
And you know, I hate to admit this, but I don't always think in terms of Shakespeare. When I eat, I do. When I'm at a restaurant, I'll think, 'Hmm, what would Macbeth have ordered?'
I'm not that interested in working with impervious people.
Hamlet is a remarkably easy role. Physically it's hard because it tends to be about three hours long and you're talking the whole time. But it's a simple role and it adapts itself very well, because the thing about Hamlet is, we all are Hamlet.
As soon as you know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong.
You can think about your career or you can think about your job. I like to think about my job.
I really don't think there is anybody in the business with better eyes than Elijah Wood.
I think, the first time I played Iago at the Public Theater, I realized I had a - much to my chagrin - I realized I had an instinct for these conflicted characters, for these torn characters, for these characters who could be described as evil. I wouldn't describe them that way.
Everyone assumes that novelists are smarter and more interesting. They're generally smarter and more interesting, but they're often very short. So it kind of cancels all the smart and interesting stuff out.
If you are going to remake a film, you may as well remake a classic.
I've got nothing against L.A. I think it is a really beautiful place. To be able to surf and get out in the Pacific Ocean every once in a while. The hiking, all of that is amazing. I love it there.
If I'm doing my job as an actor, the audience knows everything I know about the character.
If you fall in love with somebody you're working with, fine, but wait till your project is over.
I didn't think that a career in theater was very realistic so I thought the only thing I could make money doing and still be somewhat artistic was, god help me, advertising.
Some actors need to be rattled and some need to be focused.
I live with an 18-month-old Jack Russell named Chicken. He moved in about 15 months ago, and it was very hard at first because I work a lot and he doesn't.
The skill set for hockey is so specific to skating and if you haven't been skating as a kid it's impossible to play - and I wasn't a skater.
You know, I have a deep, deep affinity for Dr. Seuss.
Style, no matter how outrageous it is, is still an expression of someone's personality. And my personality is somewhere stuck in the classics.
Entitlement is lethal.
I manage to hide in my movies.
There's the private persona and the public persona and the two shall never meet.
I was a writer. I just wasn't a very good one. I was lucky enough to have a playwriting teacher who told me that I'd be a better actor than I would a playwright.
I am so used to being able to express myself from being an actor. So when people don't understand me, I'm just completely lost.
When you're in a place like New York or D.C. you just can't beat it, and it's so hard to recreate because they are both such distinctive places.
A lot of times in Hollywood you're as good as your last job.
I was always drawn to tough girls. I liked that domineering thing.
Every girl I've gone out with has said something to me first.
I'm misrepresented as a scary person. I'm not. It's all about my size and my eyebrows.
I'm drawn to people who share that sense of loss. All actors are trying to repair damaged relationships. I think that might be why I've been drawn to other actors.
I grew up in the Lower East Side of New York.
I actually loved Winnipeg. Everyone told me I was going to hate it, but it was great.
