“I was born in the West Village in New York, and then when I was about four my family moved to what they joke is the suburbs, the Upper West Side. I lived there for most of my childhood.” ChildhoodJokesMy FamilyMoved Author:Peter Vack
“I'm four and a half years older than my sister - it's an interesting age difference. Growing up it feels like a big rift. Then you get older and you realize it's not. But for a while there, we really didn't have much to do with each other - mostly because I should have been a better older brother. I'm making up for lost time. I want that in print so she can read it.” AgeRealizingInterestingGrowing UpBrotherPrintMy SisterMaking UpOlder BrotherLost Time Author:Peter Vack
“When father was younger than me he came to New York to be in musicals and was in a number of them. But he, at that time in his life, didn't feel he could fully commit to a creative life - he had this voice in the back of his head that said, "I need to make money." So that propelled him to open up an ice cream parlor, which then spawned into a number of different food businesses and took over his life for 20 years.” DifferentFatherCreativeCommitMaking MoneyCreative Life Author:Peter Vack
“My father is also gifted at business, which is a blessing and a curse, because if you have the kind of mind that he does where you can do anything very well, that in its own way is sort of limiting.” MindKindFatherBlessingCurse Author:Peter Vack
“Sometimes it's nice to think, "Oh, I can only do this one thing." Instead of feeling like, "I could theoretically, maybe, if I applied myself, could be successful in a number of different fields." That can be overwhelming. Sometimes it's nice to have this myopic vision for your life and that's the only thing you can imagine yourself doing.” ThinkingDifferentSometimesFeelingsVisionSuccessfulNiceImagineBeing SuccessfulOverwhelming Author:Peter Vack
“I took ballet for two years in high school and then in college on and off, and I went back into class. I'm nowhere near good enough to be a professional, but it's great to be in that environment. The discipline is so impressive.” EnoughSchoolEnvironmentCollegeDisciplineHigh SchoolGood EnoughBalletImpressive Author:Peter Vack
“My feeling was, "This is the future." And what's great about a place like Amazon is they really give the creators of their shows freedom, and there is less limitations imposed on them creatively than when you're making a conventional network show.” GivingFeelingsLimitation Author:Peter Vack
“I think you should identify with your character, but plenty of people like themselves and hate themselves. You just have to find out what's truthful for the person you're playing. When people talk about that, I think what they're saying is that as an actor, as Peter, you don't want to make a judgment that comes from your worldview about the character. Your judgments should be coming from the place of the character, and within that space, sure, you could love or hate yourself or whatever you think is most appropriate.” PeopleThinkingCharacterHateJudgmentPlentyTruthfulHate YouWorldviewLove Or Hate Author:Peter Vack
“When you're watching yourself work, you're not really an audience member for yourself. Even being confronted by your own image can be jarring sometimes. The experience of making a movie or a television show is this really full one, and sometimes you see it and even if it's a great piece of work, it's not the experience - i t's almost sad because it reminds you of something that isn't anymore.” SometimesAudience Author:Peter Vack
“I did my friend's film - this guy Harrison Atkins who's a great filmmaker. He just makes movies with all his friends, and I think that's all what we're striving for - to feel like we're among friends and people who care about each other. I'd like to think that good work comes from that - from a sort of loving and friendly environment.” PeopleThinkingCareFilmGuyEnvironmentStriveFilmmakerFriendlyGood WorkGreat Film Author:Peter Vack
“It's always nice to have a large role, but if it's a great small part, those can be so much fun. Size is less important than quality, always.” ImportantFunQualityNice Author:Peter Vack
“What's nice about writing and making films is that being able to see a film from the outside - from the inception through production and then completion - just informs what you're doing when you're an actor. And when you're an actor, it informs the decisions you make when you're making a film. It's using two different sides of your personality.” WritingDifferentFilmDecisionNicePersonalityCompletionInception Author:Peter Vack
“I was really able to confirm something that I knew on some level before I'd made a film. The best actors know how to really relax. Because in film, a lot of the decisions are made in the editing room, so when you're trying to guide your performance too much - always it's a push and pull because you can't be too relaxed. Too relaxed and it's like, "What are you doing?" Too tense and it's not good either.” TryingFilmDecisionRelax Author:Peter Vack
“If you feel like you're working with good people, you give them your humanity and just let it happen.” PeopleGivingHumanityLike YouGood People Author:Peter Vack
“You would almost think it would be the opposite, but making a film sort of made me freer in my acting.” ThinkingFilmActing Author:Peter Vack
“If you're in something and you feel like it's not going well, what can you do about that? It's out of your hands. No matter what you do, you're not going to fix that as an actor.” Author:Peter Vack
“I've always known that I wanted to be an actor. My family kind of was a theatrically inclined family. My father came to New York when he was a young man to be an actor and he, over a course, was in a couple Broadway musicals. I grew up in family where theater was always part of the vocabulary. By the time I was a teenager I was just totally obsessed, and it was the only thing I could imagine myself doing.” MenKindFatherImagineCoupleMy FamilyTeenagerObsessed Author:Peter Vack
“My philosophy is that if you're playing a moment truthfully, that it's a funny moment, then hopefully it will be funny. I like to just go for a truth in the work as much as I can. There's a lack of ego when you're working with comedy that I really love. It's hard to come up with something funny. It's become a fun game in a way. Everyone is going for the gold, for that humor.” PhilosophyMomentsFunComedyEgoGoldHopefully Author:Peter Vack
“I have done much more dramatic work than comedic work, but I think comedy is harder than drama in a way. I think it's one of those things that's constantly discussed - people who do comedy think it's harder, people who do drama think it's harder. Usually drama is the one that gets this highbrow respect.” PeopleThinkingDoneComedyDramaDramaticComedic Author:Peter Vack
“When I step back from any moment of crisis that I've ever had, I'm always struck by how humor and tragedy can kind of live in the same moment, holding hands together. How life can go from the ridiculous to the sublime to the tragic all in one breath.” KindMomentsTogetherTragedyCrisisRidiculousTragicSublimeHolding Hands Author:Peter Vack