Sidney Poitier, who is class personified, said: Lou, youre a leading man because youre a good actor. Brought tears to my eyes.
There is a bit of a once a soap actor always a soap actor thing, but I do think people still recognise talent. If youre good at something, then people have no choice but to accept it.
I think, at the end of the day, if you're a good actor, then you're a good actor.
As a struggling actor, youre not looking for parts that define you; youre just looking for work.
To me, a lot of what makes a good actor is not what a teacher tells you to do but how you respond when youre on your own.
Its different being a director. I suppose, especially if its a story youve written and you feel compelled to tell, in some ways its a lot easier than acting because youre orchestrating the piece. As an actor, sometimes youre trying to second-guess what people want.
Were taught at such a young age that you can always be better and that youre never perfect and that youre never good enough.
If youre a singer, you do concerts, and you get that interaction with fans and see what cities in what part of the world come out to see you. When youre on television, youre removed from that.
Whether youre working in corporate America or youre a journalist, construction worker, a teacher or an actor - were all trying to keep working. If one job is ending, you look for another job. When Psych ends, I will be looking for another job.
Technique is the basis of every pursuit. If youre a sportsman or youre a singer or a swimmer, well that comes under sport but you have to develop a basic technique to know what youre doing at any given time.
When youre the lead actor in a drama, you have 2 1/2 months at the end of a season to do other projects, and everything has to get done in that time.
If only the people around you know youre an artist, then youre doing something wrong.
When youre a stay-at-home mother you have to pretend its really boring, but its not. Its enriching and fulfilling, and an amazing experience. And then when youre a working mother you have to pretend that you feel guilty all day long.
I think you have to be very secure as an actor to escape yourself - to revisit someones past, whether youre portraying another person or creating someone, and then to come back to who you are and not bring those emotions with you.
If youre not living awake to the fact the life can change in a dime, then youre living asleep.
As an actor, youre always nervous as to what a director will do with something.