“I get asked all the time if I want to do more dramatic acting, and I really doubt that dramatic actors get asked if they want to do more comedies. I don't really know why that is.” IfsKnowsWantActorsActingDoubtComedyDramatic Author:Chris O'Dowd
“One of the biggest misconceptions about me is that I'm a comedian, which I'm not. A comedian is someone who can stand up in front of an audience and make you laugh. I've never done stand-up and I never will. I'm a comic actor. My comedy comes through my characters.” DoneCharacterActorsAudienceLaughingComedyFrontsComicComedianMisconceptionMake You Laugh Author:Eugene Levy
“I'm just an actor. If it's drama, I add as much humour as the part will stand. And if it's a comedy, add as much drama as you can, so it balances out; you don't wanna be too serious.” IfsActorsComedyHumourSeriousBalanceDramaAdd Author:Michael Pena
“I would like to do more dramas when I find a good role that will allow me to politely upset people's expectations of me as a comic actor.” PeopleActorsRolesComedyDramaExpectationsComicUpset Author:Ben Stiller
“Josh Radnor is that rare thing: a writer-director who thinks like an actor but still knows how to create a comedy with shape and vision. Liberal Arts is the best movie about college I’ve seen since I don’t know what...Dryly affectionate and super-sharp. Elizabeth Olsen is every inch a star.” ThinkingKnowsArtStillsActorsStarsVisionKnow HowComedyCollegeShapesDirectorsArt IsInchesAffectionateJoshLiberal ArtsRare Things Author:Owen Gleiberman
“Running my show is really like an actor being in repertory but where, in one day in one performance, you do scenes from a drama, a farce, a low comedy and a tragedy.” ShowsRunningActorsComedyDramaSceneOne DayLowsPerformancesTragedyFarce Author:Dick Cavett
“No, I love the idea that someone changes. As an actor it's always the thing that you look for. He is someone who starts off bright, cheerful and confident and then has everything taken away from him. It's a wonderful journey to take.” LooksIdeasActorsTakenComedyWonderfulJourneyCheerfulWonderful Journey Author:Stephen Fry
“When someone who is known for being comedic does something straight, it's always "a big breakthrough" or a "radical departure." Why is is no one ever says that if a straight actor does comedy? Are they presuming comedy is easier?” IfsDoeHumorBigsActorsKnownComedyEasierRadicalBreakthroughDepartureComedicPresuming Author:Carol Burnett
“You cannot begin to imagine the shock I had when I came down on the floor for the first time. First of all, there's this whole thing about playing sitcom comedy. I didn't want to do the sitcom thing, but I didn't know what else to do. I went slowly. We went through the week of rehearsal, then we got on the floor with the cameras, which I'm used to because of my experience in the old days. Then came camera day, with an audience, and it was stunning, enthralling, exciting and chaotic. I had never experienced anything like that before, as an actor. I was part minstrel, part actor.” KnowsWantFirstsWholeUsedActorsAudienceComedyImagineWeekFirst TimeExcitingCamerasShockRehearsalChaoticOld DaysSitcomStunningMinstrels Author:William Shatner
“I played a lot of serious parts in a lot of TV movies and early miniseries but what happens is that you get sort of locked into "Oh no, he's a serious actor." Well, I was a serious actor for nine years or 10 years and then I get into comedy and everybody said, "Oh no, he's funny. He can do comedy," and then all of a sudden, you're just a comedy guy.” YearsWellsSaidHappensGuyActorsCan DoComedySeriousTvsNineLockedNine Years Author:Barry Bostwick
“A lot of people are doing television now. Great, legendary actors are doing movies on cable and stuff now, and you can't blame them, because they're still doing adult dramas and adult comedies on those stations.” PeopleStillsActorsStuffComedyTelevisionDramaAdultsBlameStationsCablesLegendary Author:Billy Bob Thornton
“I'm trained as an actor for the stage - classically trained, believe it or not - and I worked closely with Stella Adler for years. People don't know that much about it. They just think I am these people. But I've been in this comedy racket, because it's just how everybody wants to see me.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantYearsBelieveActorsComedyStageRacketStellaAdler Author:Michael Richards
“A Murphy [Eddie Murphy] movie is like a Sidney Poitier comedy - he's that intensely good... He revolutionized acting. He's literally black Brando. Before Eddie Murphy, there were two schools of acting for a black actor: Either you played it LIKE THIS or youplayeditlahkdis. He was the first black guy in a movie to talk like I am talking right now. That did not exist for black actors before him.” FirstsTwoSchoolGuyActorsBlackActingTalkingComedyRight NowMurphyBrandoBlack Guys Author:Scott Raab
“I did a lot of theater in school. I thought maybe I wanted to go to law school or be a judge or a politician. And then I just kind of got smitten by the process of rehearsal and working with other actors and those kinds of challenges. And then comedy.” KindWantedSchoolLawActorsProcessChallengesComedyJudgingPoliticianTheaterRehearsalLaw SchoolSmittenWorking With Others Author:Rashida Jones
“The goal with me, and the way I challenge myself as an actor, is to go from genre to genre. I like that. A lot of actors always challenge themselves. But for me the challenge lies not only in getting better, but going from drama to comedy to action or whatever the case may be, and having a wide array of movies in terms of my filmography.” WayMayActionLyingActorsGoalTermChallengesCasesComedyDramaWideGenreGet Better Author:Dwayne Johnson
“I've had a chance to really stretch and do a lot of different genres. When I started acting, my whole focus and intention was to work as a stage actor in a company where you're asked to different roles - do a comedy, do a tragedy, etc. I haven't had any reservations about jumping from one type of genre to another.” DifferentWholeActorsChanceActingCompanyRolesComedyFocusStageHavensTypeTragedyIntentionGenreEtcJumpingReservationsDifferent GenresStage Actors Author:Kyle MacLachlan
“I get the greatest joy from just doing anything, being an actor. Doing music, and doing what I love to do. I don't make a huge distinction between comedy and drama. I think the whole point is just trying to be as honest, from moment to moment, as you can be. If you're honest about the material, and the material is ridiculous, then you're in a comedy.” IfsThinkingTryingWholeMomentsJoyActorsComedyHonestMaterialsHugeDramaRidiculousDistinction Author:John C. Reilly
“The real challenge in acting is in comedy. It's easier to get that gasp in a drama. Not easy, because you still have to find that emotional pitch. And when you do something in drama and you hear that sob from the audience it's so fulfilling. But as a comic actor, when the laugh is supposed to come and you punch in that line and nothing happens it is dreadful. It's horrific and you feel like dying right there.” FeelsStillsRealHappensActorsEasyChallengesLinesActingAudienceLaughingComedyDyingEmotionalEasierDramaThings HappenComicFulfillingHorrificFeel Like Dying Author:George Takei
“I started in comedy when I first started as an actor on stage and doing improvisational theater and stuff like that. So a lot of people who know me know that sort of side of me. But I got the roles that I got as an young actor kind of steered me in a different direction, which were, at times, darker characters. And so comedy was not something that came easy for people to think of my in those terms.” PeopleThinkingKnowsFirstsKindDifferentCharacterYoungActorsEasyStuffSidesTermRolesComedyStageTheaterKnow MeDifferent DirectionsYoung Actors Author:Andy Garcia
“There's not a comedy actor who doesn't want a chance to do drama, and vice versa. As actors, we're always looking to be pushed and to do the other side of the coin.” WantActorsSidesChanceComedyDramaVicesCoinsVice Versa Author:Matthew Lillard
“Comedy is serious - deadly serious. Never, never try to be funny! The actors must be serious. Only the situation must be absurd. Funny is in the writing, not in the performing. If the situation isn't absurd, no amount of joke will help.” IfsWritingTryingHelpingActorsSituationComedySeriousAmountJokesAbsurdPerforming Author:Mel Brooks
“I dont think I could compare myself to Macaulay Culkin, because were pretty much two different kinds of actors. Hes done a lot of comedy. He does mostly just comedy like Uncle Buck and Home Alone and Home Alone 2. And Ive done a lot of different stuff, like sad movies, like the movie about the kid with AIDS.” ThinkingKindDoeTwoDifferentDoneHomeKidsActorsStuffComedyAidsCompareDifferent KindsUnclesBucksMe AloneSad Movie Author:Brian Bonsall
“every actor knows that tragedy, being linear and inevitable, is taxing - but comedy, which depends on the element of surprise, is the hardest act of all.” KnowsActorsComedyDependsElementsTragedySurpriseHardestInevitableLinearElement Of Surprise Book:Saturday's Child: A Memoir Source: Saturday's Child: A Memoir
“I always get a little bit pissed off when stand-up comedy is not recognised as being as good a craft as being an actor. We give Oscars to people and it's like, 'Aw, this person is the greatest person on earth', but being an actor is pretty easy in comparison to stand-up comedy. It's no surprise that several stand-up comics have gone on to become great actors. I don't know any great actors that have gone on to become great stand-up comics.” PeopleKnowsGivingLittlesPersonsEarthActorsEasyBitsGoneComedyLittle BitSurpriseCraftsComparisonOscarsGreat ActorsPissed OffStand Up Comedy Author:Jim Jefferies
“I just want to kind of tackle every kind of form that exists in the comedy world; whether it be stand-up or hidden camera or parody. Kind of slap it in a movie with hip-hop artists and actors, comedians and girls. I just want to do something fun.” WorldWantKindFormArtistGirlActorsFunComedyCamerasHip HopHipsComedianHopsSlapParodyHip Hop Artist Author:Pauly Shore
“comedy ... is much harder to do than drama. It's not true that laugh and the world laughs with you. It's very hard to make a group of people laugh at the same thing; much easier to make them cry at the same thing. ... That's why great comic acting is probably the greatest acting there is.” PeopleWorldHardActorsActingLaughingComedyGroupsCryEasierDramaHarderComic Author:Glenda Jackson
“I did a couple comedies to balance myself as an actor and balance how audiences see Donnie Yen as an actor, and I would even say as a celebrity or icon, to some fans. I want to show that I'm not Terminator.” WantShowsActorsAudienceComedyFansCoupleBalanceIcons Author:Donnie Yen
“My heroes are Bill Murray and Dustin Hoffman. Those are the two actors that both do comedies and dramas, seamlessly. Also John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman. They're all just great actors, neither comedic nor dramatic. They're just great actors.” TwoActorsComedyHeroDramaBillsDramaticMy HeroGreat ActorsComedicPhilip Author:Jonah Hill
“When you see a bad romantic comedy, you see the script, the director, and the actors trying to create this warmth and this pathos and this feeling that you care about them. That cannot be manufactured - it's either there or it isn't.” TryingFeelingsCareActorsComedyDirectorsScriptsWarmthPathos Author:Jeff Garlin
“If the audience knows what's behind the door and the actor does not, that's comedy. If both the audience and the actor do not know, that's mystery!” IfsKnowsDoeActorsBehindsAudienceComedyDoorsMystery Author:Melvin Helitzer
“The whole thing with comedy is that you are always in control. Writer, director, actor, producer, and sometimes bouncer. And you are just a piece of their puzzle.” SometimesWholeActorsComedyPiecesDirectorsProducersPuzzles Author:Dane Cook
“I come from a very expressive family, so it's really not surprising that we became actors. There was a lot of real-life drama in our house. Some of it was drama, some of it was comedy and some of it was comic-tragedy.” RealActorsHouseComedyDramaTragedyReal LifeComicSurprisingExpressiveDrama Life Author:John Turturro