Top 130 Quotes & Sayings by Julia Stiles - Page 2

On 'Silver Linings Playbook,' David O. Russell is the master at getting his actors to give him something that he doesn't expect. He loves to keep things spontaneous. He talks to the actors throughout a take because, in real life, you don't know what the next person is going to say; you don't know when you're going to get interrupted.

I wish I could be on 'Politically Incorrect.' Because Bill Maher basically dismisses teenagers, and I think I could give my generation a good name.

In terms of directing a feature, I'd want the story to be right - you know, it's a year of your life, and you have to be focused on one thing, so I want it to be a story that I really, really care about and will enjoy making.

I don't naturally have a good metabolism, but I am lucky in that I am naturally drawn to healthy food.

I love baseball. As a teenager, I was a contrarian and picked the underdog instead of just rooting for the Yankees. It's a hard team to root for, but there's something that always keeps me hopeful.

I was reluctant to join Twitter. My biggest concern was, I don't want these thoughts that pop into my brain to be immediately broadcast. There's a danger in that. And also - who cares?

Obviously, if I'm in Argentina, I'm going to have a steak, but I don't love meat, really. I always think about where the food came from and who had to get it.

'Big Night' is the best food movie ever made. It's such a celebration of food, and the Italian tradition of celebrating people. Plus, everything looked delicious!

We're not doing brain surgery. We're not saving lives... Even if you're doing Shakespeare, it's still entertainment. We're just entertaining people. We're just doing the stuff that comes on in between the ads.

At the heart of any drama, there's conflict. When you are acting, you get to play out the confrontations you want to have in real life but can't. Or the emotions that you would want to have in real life, but sometimes they are too difficult.

The platform doesn't really matter to me, whether it's stage or theatre or even a web series. I just am more interested in, like, if it's a story that I would want to watch and if it's a character that I feel like I can contribute something to, then that's really what gets me.

I always thought it would be really fun to play a villain. I feel like I haven't done that yet. Not an anti-hero, not someone who is flawed, but somebody who is just straight-up bad.

When I was a child, I would draw these little stick-figures, and my mom would put them up all over the loft and tell me how wonderful they were. Then you get out there into the harsh reality of the world, and you realize not everybody loves every little thing you do the way your mom did.

One of the wonderful things about 'Jason Bourne' and that franchise is getting to work the same people sporadically and over the course of many years. I'm not so keen on having to get to know a whole group of people.

I love the interactive nature of theater. I just craved it. As much as I love working on a film or TV set, most of the storytelling happens in the editing, whereas when you're doing a play, the storytelling is in your hands as an actor.

Compared to film or television, theater is more interactive, collaborative.

I just thought 'Blue' was a great premise and a great set-up for conflict. I love the idea of exploring a character who's living a secret life and is going to drown in the lies she's telling.

I so find Harold Pinter and David Mamet's writing to be exciting, and obviously there aren't that many female - at least with Mamet, there aren't that many good female roles. But I always thought it would be interesting to play one of the guy roles.

My musician friends could always practice what they loved doing, but I can't go on a street corner and start reciting a monologue. Acting is very collaborative, and you always need other people with you - mainly an audience.

The best working experiences I've had are with directors who want to create with you while you're on set. I prefer a much freer environment. That's why I'm always trying to mess things up, just to know that I can!

I think I was born an artist. But the key is that I have a mom that encouraged and supported my artistic side. She still has the stick-figure drawings framed.

I've always been fascinated with the idea of people paying for sex and what goes on with that and why that happens.

I am forever a romantic. I try to bring that into my work. I try not to be fooled by romance. Or work.

It was nice that there [ in the Bourne Ultimatum ] was a reference to the relationship . It's very subtle - it's actually without dialogue. I do think it's powerful even without words.

I do think that the more takes you have the more opportunity to experiment [but] at a certain point, there are diminishing returns. There's only so much variety you offer.

I think it's really special to be a part of something that people are still watching or thinking about or interested in, or remember fondly many years later. I don't think it's annoying at all.

The exercise in theater is night after night you are doing the same play, but you have another opportunity to explore. It changes nightly even because of the audience and your day going into the evening of the performance. With film it's much more controlled.

I remember seeing Janet McTeer in A Doll's House. My grandmother took me and we had seats in the very back row, but her performance was so powerful - it was very accessible. I felt like I was much closer than I was.

With film, so much is in the director's hands. Once something is cut together - unless you're in the editing room - you don't really remember what the alternatives are.

I'm not good at keeping secrets. If I'm entrusted with a secret from a friend, I can do that because I'm a good friend, but I don't like having secrets, it makes me nervous.

I did a different production with a different director and Bill Pullman. Oleanna­ - the one you saw - we were doing right after Bourne Identity or right after it came out.

Education is huge for me. I went to public school until I turned thirteen, and was lucky enough to afford college once I became successful as an actress. I cannot believe that quality education costs as much as it does in this country. Ghetto Film School is a remarkable public high school in New York City where students get to learn to express themselves through filmmaking, and have hands-on access to equipment.

I kind of don't believe in actors directing themselves. Obviously some people have done it well, but I don't see how I could. It's funny that you ask, because I've just been thinking that maybe I'd rather direct The Bell Jar than act in it. It's a huge leap to go from a short to a feature, so I'm tentative - I'm like, Well, that's just so triple-type-A personality of you.

As an actor, you're only one little piece of the puzzle; you're fulfilling someone else's vision. If you're involved earlier on, you're kind of creating your own.

I did a run of a play over the summer in a really tiny theater in New York and that was rejuvenating for me. I directed a short series for Hulu called Paloma and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting.

It's not my job to critique the writing. I'm there to serve it. I had to figure out a way to make it work.

I never think of myself as an actor who takes work home with them.

Yoga has stopped me from destroying my joints after running. It slows me down. My brain and body can go into overdrive - yoga teaches me to focus on the moment and not get ahead of myself.

Yoga has stopped me from destroying my joints after running. It slows me down.

I like a director that encourages me to be playful. I don't really like being restricted or controlled by a director.

In my early career, I look at that time as a series of trial and error and learning as I go.

In my worst moments, I try to think about loving instead of hating. Creation versus destruction, know what I'm sayin'?

Theater is like going to the gym for actors.

If I'm gong out to a club I like to have fun with it. I'll use blue or red sparkly eyeliners and glittery eye shadows. Then I'll put on some blue mascara. I focus on the eyes.

When Paul [Greengrass] was writing, he'd send me story ideas that he had. He was particularly interested in social movements and revolutions that had been happening all over the world, and how computers and the internet had helped those movements. He encouraged me to read a book about Anonymous, the hacker group called "white hat" hackers, meaning they're driven by ideology and social disruption as opposed to just greed.

Education is huge for me. I went to public school until I turned thirteen, and was lucky enough to afford college once I became successful as an actress.

I was happy when I read the script [The Bourne Ultimatum ] - the first version they sent me - to see that before, there's some humanity too.

The thing with the Bourne movies is that they're so big in scope and the production value is so high and it takes so much organization.

The only thing that gets me through any type of pain, emotional or physical, is to make it worthwhile by putting it into my work.

Fundamentally women and men are different.

I like a director who is very observant and is watching what I'm doing and noticing what I'm doing, but is giving me time to figure it out. They don't jump right in and give you a note before you've had time to really search on your own with how to do a scene.

We can become very short-sighted in terms of objectives. The first thing to go during times of economic crisis and budget cuts is funding for things that are essential and not-quantifiable, like the arts. Save Big Bird

I feel like I have a skill set, but every experience is different and there's always room for improvement.

Actors can write and produce too. Then when I was working on Jason Bourne­ - having had that experience - instead of going back to my trailer and being separate from everyone else, I would sit behind the monitor and watch Paul Greengrass work and be much more included in the process. That was new for me and really enriching.

Seeing other people in pain causes me pain.

Theater makes working in movies or TV seem like a cake-walk.

Make yourself useful, not just on a day to day basis, but as a lifetime thing.

Bill Pullman is older than Aaron Eckhart - although I was older too - and the age difference changes the play. My perspective on those issues had changed a lot. Without going into nerdy details about that play, there was something that still stuck with me. I still had the same joy in that dialogue and David Mamet's rhythm in terms of his writing. I felt like there was still something to explore.

My regular school didn't know what to do with me!

I am forever grateful that I got some training in the theater - it reduces performance anxiety.