Michael Stuhlbarg
Things never go the way you expect them to. That's both the joy and frustration in life. I'm finding as I get older that I don't mind, though. It's the surprises that tickle me the most, the things you don't see coming.
I find that it's best to take one step at a time and cross each bridge as they come to you.
I put my best foot forward to make the best impression I could have, and it's been serving me well ever since.
Film, for me, has been a process of learning on the job.
I think the theater work and the on-camera work feed off each other. My theater work has become more simple, and my on-camera work has become more energized or more spontaneous.
I wanted to be a cartoonist. I was one of those kids who sat around and drew in my room all the time.
I was thrown into a community production of 'Bye Bye Birdie' or something when I was a kid. I wanted to just build the sets, but I wasn't allowed to just build the sets unless I auditioned for the play. So I auditioned for the play and was thrown into the chorus. During the course of that I fell in love with it, and I never really turned back.
I've done a lot of theater work that has been quite diverse. I feel very fortunate to have had many different people think of me in many different ways. So, as an actor that's all you - all I want is diversity. So far in film and television work I have done has not been as diverse, and I hope it grows to be.
My mom and my dad are ebullient people, and I think I carry that with me.
Most of the people in New York are very often from somewhere else.
I've found in my own life, if you try to struggle against what the universe is telling you, you set yourself up for more of a battle.
I was raised in a reform synagogue. I think we all bring with us a sense of when hard things happen to us, we find ourselves asking questions of why are these things happening to me at this time in my life. I think in that sense, there's a certain resonance that I carry. It's more of a spiritual resonance as opposed to particularly of Judaism.
I'm glad to have work.
I just feel like I am a really lucky guy who these talented directors have found places for me. I feel honored and blessed.
Scorsese is a fan of improv and is always pushing actors to think up something that would make the scene more fun. He loves any idea that helps the scene be alive.
I'm not a math-head.
I'm just grateful for the opportunities that have come my way.
When I try to go with what's happening and embrace that as much as I can, it seems to be a much smoother journey for me.
When I heard I'd be working with Scorsese, I signed up immediately.
Someone who's asking questions of the clergy, that he doesn't have the answers to, I think that's a universal predicament.
With each job that you're given an opportunity to do, you're asked to use new parts of yourself and to figure the play out with other tools that you perhaps didn't use with the last show.
I saw a production of 'Titus Andronicus' at the Royal Shakespeare Company with Brian Cox back in 1987. That sort of rocked my world. It was a remarkable production in its simplicity and its realism and passion.
Had I pursued a film career in Los Angeles, I'm not sure I would have had the fortune that I've had.
I came to New York to study theater and stayed and was doing exactly what I wanted to do. It's because of that work that some doors eventually opened for me.
I find if you can look in the mirror and see something other than the face you see every day, it can free you up in terms of who you play. Wearing a mask can free you up.
There's a lot of noise in the world. And one of the beautiful things about doing theater and film is the absence of that noise or, perhaps, the adding of that noise where it's helpful in telling the story. I'm always trying to get rid of that noise. The more you do it, the better you get.
Doing film and television demands a kind of simplicity. If you think something differently, the camera will pick it up.
I love throwing myself into people who actually lived. It gives me a lot to research and a lot to know.
I think it's always a challenge to adapt a beautiful literary work into a fresh and alive film.
I miss California... I love driving.
I don't see a difference between the idea of what an actor does and what someone supposes a character actor is, really.
I did a play back in 2005 called 'The Pillowman,' which Martin McDonagh directed, in which, at the very end of the run, I caught a case of shingles. I had something burst on my forehead, so I actually have a mark on my forehead from that experience. But it's also an internal mark as well.
Making television is difficult. Making any art is difficult.
With television, sometimes the writing is continuous and happening at every moment, and you'll get new pages at the last moment. We have to incorporate that into what it is that we're doing.
I often find in doing tragedy, or doing very serious material, that there's a level of anxiety that builds that often leads to laughter in some cases. In between takes, there can often be a lightness.
You never know what is going to happen in your life.
I had been acting since I was a kid. I had done 35 plays in New York before 'Serious Man,' but you never know what putting one foot in front of the other is going to do.
A miracle is something that seems impossible but happens anyway.Collection: Miracle
The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie.Collection: Truth
I love a sense of humor, I love intelligence, I love specificity, I love surprises. I'm inspired to get out of bed in the morning and fill my day with good things.Collection: Morning
The next film I have is called Miles Ahead, which is about Miles Davis, during a five-year period in his life during which he's struggling to figure out which direction to go musically and in his life. I play a record executive who's there to try to get Miles to collaborate with one of my clients. I'm excited to see that.Collection: Struggle
Andy [Hertzfeld], just by nature, is one of these straight shooters. A very moral guy, kind of an open book. Along with being brilliant and one of the original members of the Macintosh team, he has a really generous spirit.Collection: Team
To see those two characters [Steve Jobs and Andy Hertzfeld ] juxtaposed against each other shows an interesting dynamic of how gifted people might function differently in the world.Collection: Jobs
I love Seth Rogen's line in which he talks about how you can be both a genius and decent at the same time.Collection: Genius
I think in regards to [Andy Hertzfeld ] relationship with Steve [Jobs]... Andy is a brilliant guy, and loves Steve with all his heart. I think he would have loved to work with him even longer. But the circumstances just weren't right for him.Collection: Jobs
I think Aaron [Sorkin] did a remarkable job of plucking Andy [Hertzfeld] out of [Steve] Jobs' story, to perhaps reflect back on Steve a sense of maybe some things that were missing in Steve's life. Andy, just by nature, is one of these straight shooters.Collection: Jobs
I'm always trying to remember that kindness goes a long, long way. I think that's something that people will definitely take out of this film as well.Collection: Kindness
I had a great time working with Denis [Villeneuve] and the whole group. It was a very different kind of a part [in Story of Your Life] than I've played in a while. But I had great fun; and yes, it was really nice not to have to answer to anybody about that.Collection: Fun
The key research I usually apply that allows me to understand the roles that I take on, starts with the script in front of me, and what it offers. I try to absorb as much of it as I can, in the time that I have to study it, and I like to change things up, if I have a choice in the matter... and I usually don't. I dream on it, write about and find out who the individual is, and try to bring him to life with as much human and truth as I can.Collection: Dream
I play Edward G. Robinson [in Trumbo], who was a close friend and a co-worker of Dalton's [Trumbo]. They worked together on at least one or two screenplays. A lot of these stories take famous people and show you who they are behind the scenes, which is kind of fun. One of the things about getting to play Edward G. Robinson was learning who the man was away from his movie-star exterior.Collection: Stars