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VIOLA DAVIS
on playing historical figures.
"When I play someone from the past, I know it's always going to be a challenge. There's a great deal of research involved and you have to work within these parameters while maintaining your imagination. So what works for me is digging up the graves of the people I play. Breaking into cemeteries late at night, exhuming their bodies, feeling skin to decaying skin, lips to withered bone. That's when we get to the core of what acting really is. Sometimes I even take a souvenir to sleep with at night during filming to prepare -- a leg bone, maybe a clavicle. It's not grave robbing if it's for the craft."
TONI COLETTE
on being spontaneous.
"The key to acting is rebirth. I bang my head against a wall repeatedly after each take, losing short term memory to have a fresh new perspective on the next scene. And if you ever feel lightheaded, eat a box of Tim Tams."
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BRENDAN FRASER
on staying relevant.
“The Mummy Returns, I feel, was always a metaphor for a dying career reborn from the ashes, a tale of a guy with one goal; to wreak havoc and revenge on those who turned him into a penniless laughingstock with no family, social status or means to support himself. It’s still the best project I've ever worked on, and I'm still moved by how relatable the mummy is. He just wanted to maintain his hair, muscle mass and basic self respect, but his dumb wife kept betraying him, taking all his money, and sucking him dry till he was nothing but an embalmed corpse with zero acting jobs. But now that I, I mean, the mummy, has in fact, returned, he can start over, and I think his acting career is really starting to take off. The mummy, I mean.”
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ANGELINA JOLIE
on dealing with change.
"For Wanted, I did months of training at the gun range as well as countless hours with renowned physicists, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't curve a bullet, not even a little bit. And that failure is ultimately what pushed me into philanthropy."
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EMMA STONE
on building spiritual growth.
"For the more challenging roles, it's always important to maintain spiritual strength and a firm sense of one's aura. If I'm in a difficult scene or I'm not quite sure where to go with the character, I'll consult my dead grandfather and see what kind of phantom coins he's left on the table for me that day. I take great value in these coins, and I love how amazed people are by how in tune I am with my own spirituality and my sixth sense, you know, 'cause people ask me for advice all the time. Give me your mother's maiden name and a lock of your dog's hair and I'll tell you which ring of hell your grandfather's in. Mine's in the one where you're just sitting in your own feces for, like, forever."
DANAI GURIRA
on finding your voice.
"The opportunity to play such a strong and complex character like Okoye will always be my greatest achievement. And I'll never forget what Ryan Coogler told me on the first day of filming. "Rule number one to a Dora Milaje, never let a clown panther try to play you. If he play you, then rule number two, is kill his best friends and make them yes men." Those words really prepared me for the role and gave me the freedom to take risks on set, including stabbing Michael B. Jordan's stunt double in the chest."
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STEVE CARELL
on dealing with fame.
"I don't know about this new fame, it's something else. People keep saying I've become a silver fox, like, wow, what? I don't even know what that is. I mean, I know what it is, it means an incredibly handsome man of a particular age, but it's an interesting term. And the new George Clooney? Me? Blah. I don't know. Makes sense, but I don't know."
AMY ADAMS
on overcoming rejection.
"When I got the call that I wasn't going to be cast as the Leprechaun in Leprechaun 5: In The Hood, I was incredibly disappointed, especially after having my hair permanently dyed red and undergoing knee removal surgery to become three feet shorter. But even so, I never gave up, and I was cast as a palm tree in the film Psycho Beach Party that very same year."
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MANDY PATINKIN
on learning from past mistakes.
"This week on Criminal Minds: body go die, murder bad, ready to give profile, killer have bad childhood? yes! and hates women too? absolutely! garcia, where psycho is? yay we have address let's go! oh no he has weapon! but guess wha? fbi too quick! GUN go boom boom, killer dead, yay, fbi is hero!!! So to answer your question, no, I did not enjoy my time on the set of Criminal Minds, it was just too much crime and murder and death. I am now focused on more positive roles, like my role as CIA, NOT FBI, CIA director in the non-violent non-criminal investigative show, Homeland, now playing on Sundays, 10PM ET on Showtime."
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WILL SMITH
on time management.
"I like to live a fast-paced lifestyle, you know, I'm always on the go, always on set or working on the next project. So I try to cut out things that take time away from being on set, you know, wiping my butt after a number two or eating dinner with the family, for instance. Now I'm a fast eater already, but I'm learning how to unhinge my jaw like a snake to sort of speed up the eating process. I've been having a lot of success so far, but Jada doesn't always allow it at the dinner table, so I'm getting some help from the guys down at the Scientology lab so I can devour food undetected."
HENRY CAVILL
on commemorating personal achievement.
"My role as Superman has always been an honor, and my killer spectacular pecs is an added bonus, but I feel my greatest achievement in life is the personal donation of my moustache to the Museum of Natural History after receiving a post-shave, posthumous Nobel Peace Prize for bringing people on Twitter together."
ARI ASTER
on maintaining a strong family dynamic.
"Communication within the family is very important. If someone robs your mother-in-law's dead body, tell everyone at the dinner table before dessert or before anyone gets too full. And always, ALWAYS check the home regularly for demonic spells your grandmama may or may not have inscribed in the walls."
WHOOPI GOLDBERG
on the new generation.
"These up and coming actors are a mystery to me. I don't understand them. When I was first starting out, I did movies like The Color Purple, you know? Real dramas that could shift the culture of our society. Now the only color purple I see is Thanos' big ole forehead and his band of superheroes running around in tights. That's not cinema -- that's a bunch of cartoons trying to fight Barney. And even the young actors that show promise, they're a bunch of hipsters. Timothee Cha-lee-mee? The kid's got too many E's in his name, it's just too much. I'll just stick to my VHS tape of Theodore Rex and relive the glory days when things made sense."
DAVID FINCHER
on directing the crime genre.
"Every white man with a monopoly man mustache looks like Jack the Ripper, which is why I always make sure to uncurl my facial hair and keep my night prowling for hookers to a strict minimum. And even though the Ripper was never caught, had I been around back then I would have loved to pick his brain on how to properly dismember a body -- for research purposes. But I've learned that first hand experience can work just as well as a director, which is why I carry a bloody ax around at all times."
JIMMY FALLON
on public speaking.
"My advice to future aspiring late night hosts is to never pause for dramatic effect, especially if you pausing is more dramatic than the thing you said. If silence is drawing more attention than what's coming out of your mouth, say more exciting things to the people around you, then laugh loudly for 30 seconds to ensure an uninterrupted stream of noise."
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GWYNETH PALTROW
on taking pride in success.
"I'm not sure why people judge me for my success or the success of my company. Poor people complain about being poor all the time. And people don't get mad at Beyonce for flaunting her wealth, and her last album was, like, years ago, you know? So I won't apologize for building the life I lead from the ground up or for the strong principles I've had my entire career. I don't destroy my body with toxic chemicals. I always preach good health as well as sound body and mind for all women. I start every morning by consulting my crystals and I never consume anything that comes out the same way it went in, like goddamn corn. This is who I am, and everything I have, I "earned". And I'm proud of that."
JOAQUIN PHOENIX
on method acting.
"Me and Harley Quinn are going to build a cabin one day, friendo, and when we do, I'm going to remodel it as the bat cave and fire a grenade launcher at it with all my valuables inside. That's how much I hate the Batman."
EMMA WATSON
on body positivity.
"If I do ever decide to get butt implants, I'll be sure to have them custom fitted as a PEZ dispenser for convenient snacking throughout the day. And I'm proud to say that that will always be my choice and no one else's."
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY
on wrestling a pig in texas.
"I was working this one afternoon. Hot as hell. Saw this one wild hog, wandered from the rest. He was a slippery one. Wasn't going down easy. I wasn't either. So what do I do? Well I get some loose rope off the stable hook. I throw it in the air. Whip it around its neck. And wrestle it into the mud. Its got some fire in its belly, but I ain't letting up. I pin it down, get it under control, and rangle it in with the other cattle. People round here don't much like a hog with sand, but I disagree. A little piggy contact is good for the soul."
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
on seeking truth.
"Buffalo wings aren't really made of buffalo."
DWAYNE JOHNSON
on maintaining profitability.
"The key to success is always striving to be the best, eyebrow push ups, and knowing what your worth is. I try to keep my punches to 100 per film, as I humbly charge 1,000 dollars per punch and I don't know what comes after 100. I asked my good friend Jason Statham and he has no idea either, he just adds as many zeroes as he wants and the money appears in his checking account. I've brought on the same principle, and it's worked well for me so far."
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
on his dedication to diversity.
“It’s always been incredibly important for me to have an inclusive and diverse cast and crew, at least when I’m speaking with other people. And working with John David Washington for Tenet was a great opportunity to create a strong black lead, much like the gangster who was brutally stabbed in The Dark Knight, or the two men forced in a Mandingo fight to the death shortly after. For this new film, I’m particularly excited to convince audiences that this is a film I actually made, despite the fact that a black man is the main character."
ADRIEN BRODY
on committment to character.
“Oui, oui, to prepare for The French Dispatch, I had to immerse myself in la culture francaise. For most of the year, I would wake up, do 50 push ups under an 18th century guillotine, watch Steve Martin’s The Pink Panther and The Pink Panther Dos, smoke 25 cigarettes, all while sleeping in a human sized baguette every night for six months. But it was worth it. And now, I speak perfect French.”
KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
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KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
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KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
.jpg)
KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
.jpg)
KEVIN FEIGE
on company success.
“Running Marvel Studios has been a dream come true, and an even bigger blessing that it worked out the way it did. There were some bumps in the road however, namely the challenging task of convincing everyone that The Incredible Hulk was a weird fever dream, dodging the Black Widow question without admitting Marvel fans just hate women, and of course, that time I lost my hat, a.k.a. the source of my power during the back half of phase two. But despite all those trials and tribulations, consistency and maintaining a funny quip, funny quip, fight scene, funny quip formula has proven to be the best contributor of a successful MCU.”
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