American Quotes

The aftermath of the war is what inspired us to write many of our plays. The whole reason for our writing Inherit the Wind was that we were appalled at the blacklisting. We were appalled at thought control.

Our only competition in the theater is boredom, because if I'm bored with a play, if I'm revolted by a play on stage, with the Broadway prices, especially today, I'm going to walk out and not come back and pay that price again.

In no instance is there to be a musical or opera of Inherit the Wind because it doesn't sing. It's an intellectual play.

If you're going to make a musical, don't cartoon it from the play. Make it better than the play. Have a reason for making it sing.

I think enthusiasm is the answer to passionate writing.

All experience helps when you write.

A play is a passion.

It's always such a joy that you wake up in the morning and there's work to do.

A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air. A psychotic is the man who lives in it. A psychiatrist is the man who collects the rent.

The internet to me is kind of like a black hole, and I never really go on it.

Nothing's sacred anymore. Those girls and I got so close. They were painting me naked every day for months. It was kind of like going to a really bizarre sleepover. It's what you guys imagine we do: One naked girl and seven pairs of hands all over her.

It was like pulling teeth trying to get me to L.A. I hated it for so long, but now I've got this great life here.

I went through a wood-chopping phase when I was nine or 10.

I wanted to be a doctor when I was little, so I'm okay with blood and guts.

I want to play a character I've never been before-a crazy serial killer like Charlize Theron in Monster. I'd love to have to shave my head.

I just kind of opened up and said, 'I feel like a rag doll. I have hair and makeup people coming to my house every day and putting me in new, uncomfortable, weird dresses and expensive shoes, and I just shut down and raise my arms up for them to get the dress on, and pout my lips when they need to p

I had to learn how to chop wood actually - I don't think my dad would have let me go chop wood in the backyard growing up.

I grew up in Kentucky, but I did not grow up like that. I had heat, and I didn't have to shoot my dinner or anything.

I get photographers hiding in my bushes. We're way past autographs. We're into being stalked and followed.

I don't know if this is why everything has worked so well and I'm not sure I'd recommend this kind of thinking to anyone else, but I've always known I'd be successful in acting. I have certainly worked for it.

How do I let the director know how obsessed I am and willing to do anything for the movie? Like, I wanted to write this one director a letter, so I wrote him a handwritten note. But then I was like, 'How many people are writing this guy handwritten letters? Is it going to seem cheesy? What do I do?'

For 'X-Men' I was lifting a lot of weights. I actually lost a lot of mass when I quit 'X-Men' because I was working out so much and very muscular and strong.

Did I feel naked being naked? Yeah. Totally.

But really, for the most part - doing a prequel is great because you do have room to kind of free this character and how they got to where they are instead of being a slave to exactly what the previous actor did.

As hard as it is and as tired as I am, I force myself to get dinner at least once a week with my girlfriends, or have a sleepover. Otherwise my life is just work.

And when I'm on set, I'm just thinking about the script and of working. I think I've stayed focused on the work so much that I haven't really noticed my life start to change except for I've gotten busier.

Anytime you're away from your home filming, it messes with your head.

I never think it's right to chew gum in front of other people, but a lot of times I'll come in for a meeting chewing gum and I'll forget I'm chewing it. Then you don't want to swallow it because it stays in your system for seven years or something, so I've asked to throw it away. I've started to won

I couldn't be happier about being a part of 'Hunger Games' and to play Katniss. I have a huge responsibility to the fans of this incredible book and I don't take it lightly. I will give everything I have to these movies and to this role to make it worthy of Suzanne Collins' masterpiece.

Even as far back as when I started acting at 14, I know I've never considered failure.