I come out of repertory theatre so I've been working under pressure my whole career.
It's communication - that's what theatre is all about.
As a working actor, all I want to do is work. That's it. It's terrifying when you don't work. It's very hard when you don't work. There have been times when I've been out of work for like six months. I feel theatre to me is like manna.
There's something about doing theatre in London - it sinks a little bit deeper into your soul as an actor. It's something about the tradition of theatre, about performing on the West End stage.
I was doing a show at the National Youth Theatre, playing an old man. Before that I had played fat clowns and I thought, 'If I want to have the career I would like, I am going to have to lose weight.' I was just starting drama school, and found I was moving around a lot. I also started to eat sensibly. The weight just dropped off.
We are suffocated by writers who want to enlighten us with their truths. For me, the theatre is beautiful because it is a secret, and secrets seduce us, we all want to share secrets.
There are so many huge roles in the theatre: if you've got the option to play Hedda Gabler on stage, why wouldn't you choose that over a three-line part in a Hollywood film as somebody's maid or somebody's wife or somebody's best friend?
I feel that film, as opposed to theatre, is about capturing that one, real moment.
I started off in a small theatre performance company and worked my way into commercials.
Fifteen years before I became a screen actor, I was in the theatre. A lot of my work was comedy, which I loved doing. It's harder.
You don't get paid a whole lot for theatre, but you know, I feel more like, 'Where could I buy this experience, and how much would it cost? Who else would give me this kind of focus and put me in a room with this kind of talent?'
My plan is to have a theatre in some small town or something and I'll be manager. Ill be the crazy old movie guy.
Theatre is liberating because it only works if it's truthful - that's what it requires. That's not true of film: the camera does lie.
I was very interested in theatre, mostly in stage design. I did a little bit of acting.
I would have started the National Actors Theatre 30 years earlier.
Sometimes you are lucky enough to get offered things, and there is no rhyme or reason. I am very lucky because I come from England, and you have a whole range of things offered to you, from television plays and shows and theatre, so much more to explore, so it's never really money.
It's interesting that the wondrous 'Hamilton,' which I could not be more ecstatic about, has taken a long time to perfect to bring it to Broadway. And it wouldn't have been possible if it was developed in the commercial theatre from the get-go.
I love doing movies but I loved doing theatre just as much.
I almost never go to the theatre without seeing someone I've taught or known at Juilliard.
At heart, this job is about continuing to make great theatre for the people of Sheffield - a city I've known and loved since childhood.
This outfit called Los Angeles Theatre Works does readings of plays.
I don't love the theatre. I'm just not one of them.
Many of the Universities have very good Theatre Departments these days.
It was in England that I discovered theatre. I didn't have any money, but I would just eat yoghurt in order to get some money for tickets.
The only theatre I do is my own. Somehow, my life is the only life that I can play.
I did commercials and voice-overs as a kid, and it just lead to musical theatre opportunities.
I feel like theatre gives me the grounding, and keeps me alive, basically. Film gives me the thrill, and it's like a one night stand. But I do enjoy being around people who love it so much.
I'm ready for theatre. I'm ready for dramas, period stuff, films. I want to achieve everything.
The Huntington Theatre has a really fine reputation. I was keenly aware of how well thought of they are and that they develop and support new plays.
When someone comes forward and is an individual, such as a Lady Gaga or a Katy Perry, people respond to them because there is that sense of innocence. It's obviously dress up and theatre.
Playing the lead in a film where you shoot for three months away from home is not an easy thing for me when my children are in school and my husband is running a theatre company.
The theatre starts every night at half past seven, and I like the rhythm of going to the theatre, parking the car, going to the stage door; I've grown up with all of that. I'd love to do more theatre - I mean, I shouldn't be telling the world that I can't remember lines any more, but I find it more and more difficult, so I don't know.
I grew up doing theatre and spent a long time as a playwright. I still think very visually when I write.
At the end of the 1960s, I was part of the downtown theatrical movement in New York that was making work in alleyways, garages, gyms, churches, non-traditional spaces. The idea was to get away from the illusion of the conventional theatre. But then I thought, what's wrong with illusion?
Theatre should be a taxing experience: the greatest achievement of a writer is to produce a character who creates anxiety.
When I am shooting, I am inside the theatre, when I am in the editing room, I am inside the theatre. I always try to feel what they will feel. I see a film, not as a director, but as the audience. If I am entertained, they will be, too.
