Billy Crudup

“One of the things an actor tries to access is immediacy, so that you feel like you're experiencing it for the first time. But when you're playing a character who knows what's going to happen and can't stop himself to reacting although he knows he can't stop himself from reacting, there's a whole separate set of things to consider.”

“Acting is an expression of imagination. No firsthand knowledge is necessary.”

“I don't want to expose the intricacies of my work so people can understand how I did it.”

“My limits are limitless. I find my limits every time I act.”

“I avoid watching other people's versions of films or plays that I work on.”

“Everyone covering 'Stage Beauty' asks me: 'What's it like to wear a dress?'”

“I've been really lucky; I've had the opportunity to play so many roles. I can't imagine a more fortunate career for an actor. I feel incredibly lucky.”

“The truth is I don't think actors should have to do anything but come in and act. I feel the film companies should pay for proper advertising to see that the movie will sell instead of putting it on our backs.”

“My parents were really encouraging. But I had to teach them the proper way you respond to an actor after seeing a play - regardless of whether you like their performance you tell them how great they are because they have to go on again the next night.”

“I don't think actors should have to do anything but come in and act.”

“You have to deal with rejection at every stage, whether you audition for the part and don't get it, you get the part and it gets terrible reviews, or it gets great reviews but then nobody sees it.”

“Los Angeles doesn't have as vital a theatre as New York does. And that's something that really interests me.”

“The characters that I'm typically drawn to are sensitive men who are experiencing some sense of identity crisis or growth in their life that they don't know how to overcome.”

“One of the difficulties you run into is that acting and celebrity are so closely intertwined. People make careers out of being charismatic personalities. It's one of those things that people have come to expect from actors. Personalities that don't change from role to role. I don't want it that way.”