William H. Macy Quotes

The only people who do plays in LA are people who can't get jobs in TV shows.

It's not good for people to have the safety net too low... People can take care of themselves better than we allow them to.

It's hard on an actor when you have to do a scene 45 times and you know damn well that three of the angles a director is shooting will never make it into the movie.

You have to do whatever you can to limit the things that could make you feel insecure.

The roughest part is showing up. Once you throw yourself into the scene, it's just great fun to let it all go and not be self-conscious, and stop questioning whether you're sufficient.

So many actors spend so much energy trying to remember the lines. It's so foolish. Guys are the worst.

To a certain extent. I'm a fan of rehearsal on the day [of the shoot], more than getting together a week beforehand.

Nothing else counts except what you want.

Just learn the whole script before you start shooting. That makes shooting a joy. Even if they rewrite, it's easy.

That's pretty much what every scene is about, getting people to see your point of view. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

I love directors who talk action as opposed to emotion.

I've written a lot of scripts that someone else directed, and it's absolutely vital that, if I'm gonna act in it, then I have to take off the writer hat and let the director direct.

What actors are good at doing is walking into a situation that should make you incredibly self-conscious and frightened and doing it anyway. That's the gig, pretending that you are comfortable.

I feel like a lot of the young actors that are just coming up are really good. I think directors are directing better.

If I had my choice, I would do the same little independent films, but they would have $100 million budgets, so I could get paid a fortune and hang out in a huge trailer.

You'd much rather act with a pal, someone you know really well. That way, you can cut all the niceties and go right to insulting each other.

I don't watch rushes. My whole thing is to try to stay in the moment with the other actor, and to let it all hang. I'm not sure I'm right on that, though.

With an inexperienced director, a lot of times the days go on to 14, 15, 16 hours. It goes horrendously overtime. And because of the lack of money, they just keep you there, regardless of the hours.

Anyway, I try to be a good guy. I try to tell the truth, but I'm not religious.

It was my first impulse, but I chose to play the priest as a true believer who was an absolute man of faith that absolutely supports the church.

One of the things I did early on in film was over-enunciate and talk too loud.

The emotions will take care of themselves. You don't have to prod them along. As a matter of fact, you get in trouble when you prod them along.

I'm getting bigger roles, and I'm on location more, and I have a wife and family. I'd rather work less, and I've started to implement that. It was either that or my wife would break my heart.

What I've discovered is, really, acting is acting is acting. It's all the same. Seventy-five percent of the skills are the same in both media.

I think acting is getting better and better.

I love women. I always have. I'm not pretending that I understand them, but I just love women. I love being in their presence and I love everything about them.

I love making movies, I love the differentness of it, I love writing. But I've always liked television. I grew up on television.

Our glorification of violence is ripping society apart. I don't want my children exposed to it.

I feel very secure about the role of the actor in the future. They need us, because stories are about people.

At the end of the day, what actors really want to do is act a lot and not wait around in the trailer.

I'm not religious. It's an issue, 'cause I've got two little kids, and I feel you can't grow up without knowledge of religion.