The kind of theater that I do is sort of 'narrative realism,' which I think in the broadest sense is legitimate to say is mainstream. I mean, in a certain sense, Suzan-Lori's plays have had mainstream levels of success. But Suzan-Lori is in some ways not a narrative realist.
Tim Robbins had real confidence in college. He literally stole actors from the theater department at UCLA to be in his plays. The department heads got so mad at him.
I wasn't sure what it would take to make it in the theater, but despite the struggle, that was all I ever really wanted.
Unlike film and TV, theater is a luxury object, but one that ordinary middle-class people can still afford. Above all, it isn't a mass medium: Live theater is a small-scale, handmade art form. Intimacy is what makes it special.
Maybe what I'm trying to do is heal others. I think what we're trying to do in theater is heal someone.
I had such extraordinary breaks from the moment I entered the theater.
I would be a terrible person to be in a relationship with because I'm either sleeping or at the theater.
Unlike film, live theater is an anti-naturalistic medium in which character is mainly illuminated through speech and movement.
I want to do theater and I am looking forward to doing more Television and Movies. I also want to direct some plays in theater workshops for people with disabilities.
I always try to make sure that I stay connected to theater so I continue to be inspired. Not that I'm not inspired by television.
All this thing that L.A. doesn't have any love for the theater isn't true.
Theater and sports are connected. You've got your team - or ensemble - your goal and your determination to win.
It would be great to do theater one day, but I don't think I'd do a musical.
A young ballplayer looks on his first spring training trip as a stage struck young woman regards the theater.
That's one of the things about theater vs. film - with theater, actors have a little more control, and one of the disappointing things about films is that once you're done shooting, anything can happen, you know?
I think as an actor you're lucky to have any film take on a life of its own long after it's left the theater.
My college degree was in theater. But the real reason, if I have any success in that milieu, so to speak, is because I spent a lot of years directing, I spent a lot of years behind the camera.
I absolutely want to have a career where you make'em laugh and make'em cry. It's all theater.
I had always wanted to be an actress. I went to summer theater camp from kindergarten on up until high school, and always had the leads in all the plays - even though they were at the YMCA - but it was something I always wanted to do.
I'd done table reads for my own screenplays, and I always thought they were so much fun. Why couldn't we do these for other classic screenplays and bring them to life? You can experience live theater, where you get to see plays produced by different directors and different casts, but there's really nothing like that for movie scripts.
I believe that no matter what you do in life, if you learn the basics through theater, it will help you in everything else - problem solving, communication, discipline, all of that stuff.
I love doing theater so much - being in front of an audience and seeing how a character grows and develops with every performance.
I just like the continue doing what I've been doing. A melange of funny, straight drama, television, movies, a little theater here and there wouldn't hurt. So if I can keep doing that, I'll be a very happy person.
I'd love to do theater. I've done so many plays in my life. I still think of that as my main thing.
I didn't feel like gymnastics were part of The Cars. I certainly philosophically didn't want to prod the audience to react to anything. To me, it was more like negative theater. We didn't really talk to the audience. I didn't see that being a part of this band.
I remember being an usherette at my local theater very, very early on, selling ice cream and programs - because they're not free in the U.K. - during pantomime season, which was super interesting. It meant a lot of kids, a lot of sweets, a lot of sugar-induced kids.
In the theater, it's a visceral and physical response because you move around so much. You have to do something physical to pull you in. On TV or in movies, everything is so small. You can just lock into a character and ease yourself into that way.
And Twin Peaks, the Film is the craziest film in the history of cinema. I have no idea what happened, I have no idea what I saw, all I know is that I left the theater floating six feet above the ground.
My choices in projects have all been character or role-based, and on a financial level, it's obvious: as an actor on a TV series, I get a wonderful paycheck, and a consistent paycheck, which doesn't always happen when you're doing theater or movies.
As filmmakers, we want the audience to have the most complete experience they can. For example, I interviewed Stanley Kubrick years ago around the time of '2001: A Space Odyssey.' I was going to see the film that night in London, and he insisted I sit in one of four seats in the theater for the best view or not watch the film.
If I had a gun to my head and I had to choose between theater and film I'd choose theater.
I am married to the theater, and the films are only my mistress.
I love musical theater because it's live. There is no Auto-Tune. There's no second chance. What you see is what you get. You have to be amazing every night.
Theater has been my way of learning about everything.
I remember, especially like when I was in high school, going to see like Dawn of the Dead and it was like mayhem in the theater and you could barely even watch the movie. It was so fun.
I have never directed anything for the stage. I studied for three years in the theater, and it was a very, very scary experience to direct live, being so vulnerable without the possibility to control things, to be so exposed.
