Stephen Lang Quotes

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Stephen Lang

Profession : Actor

Birth : July 11, 1952

I don't want to, in any way, characterize a race or a people or get accused of racial profiling, but the Irish, as lyrical and romantic as they can be in their poetry, they can be every bit as repressed in their personal relations.

Stephen Lang

In a rehearsal room, your real resource as an actor aren't the things around you; your resources are your imagination and your director and the other actors. In those close quarters, your imagination and your skills are what you turn to.

Stephen Lang

On some level, acting is the art of pretend, and you have to have a highly cultivated sense of imagination. You have to be able to see things that aren't there, no matter what aspect of acting, whether it's green screen, whether it's on stage, whether it's anything else, whether you're working on the radio.

Stephen Lang

Your primary tools, as an actor, are observation and imagination. You can pretty much get everything you need from that, and you do. It brings back that element of pretend.

Stephen Lang

I like to understand, very specifically, what it is I'm seeing, and where it is and where it's going, and a lot of that is just hitting the mark and following the dotted line. But that's good, too because there's concentration and focus that's involved in that.

Stephen Lang

I'm always reading plays, and when I find something that I really want to do, then I'll make the time to do it.

Stephen Lang

I've always been curious about why one man jumps out of a foxhole with a grenade and charges a machine gun nest, and his buddy next to him sits there cowering. And my feeling is that the difference is tiny between the two.

Stephen Lang

I think that war is diplomacy by other means, for sure, and there have been wars that have been fought for righteous reasons. There are wars that have had to be fought, and there will probably continue to be.

Stephen Lang

I love the role I'm playing in 'Conan.' I'm enjoying making the film tremendously. It's very physically demanding. You know, Conan is 28 years younger than me and a big dude, so I have to depend upon my wolf-like wiles to defeat this young bull.

Stephen Lang

My favourite dish is pollo ajillo; my favourite drink is a good Rioja with it. And as for my favourite music, oh God - there's so many things I like. Well, I'd say it's 'Walk of Life' by Dire Straits.

Stephen Lang

I watched the Tyson-Holyfield fight with Stallone. I remember when Tyson bit him, Sly looked at me and said, 'I think he bit him'. I said, 'I think you're right, Rock.'

Stephen Lang

I am very happy acting, and just have never gone at, or been bitten by the directing bug to the extent where I'm willing to put acting aside. If offered the opportunity, I think I could do a good job with the right material.

Stephen Lang

I've been into weight training for many, many years and you add to that a good dose of cardio, don't overindulge, and you can do all right.

Stephen Lang

As you get older, stuff starts to wear down. I can't play four basketball games a week anymore. It takes me three days to recover from one. I'm a little older, a little scrappier. So now I do yoga instead. And whatever else happens in the day, I'm set up in the best way possible. I feel great. I'm so flexible.

Stephen Lang

Occasionally, I have time to go to the theater, and I think for a minute, 'Man, I'd really love to be doing a play right now.' Because I loved doing plays when I was doing them. Then I think, 'I want to do it right now, but will I want to do that Sunday matinee in six weeks?'

Stephen Lang

My criteria for doing theater has always been slightly different than my criteria with movies, in that there are a lot of reasons to do films, having to do with location, money, and first and foremost having to do with script and role and director.

Stephen Lang

Theater, because of the commitment, it has to be a great role and a great play to me. It takes a lot out of you.

Stephen Lang

My philosophy is, 'Show up, shut up, and do your job,' and if you do it to the satisfaction of your director and the public, you're likely to be able to do it again.

Stephen Lang

The idea of being in a television series is a wonderful one to be considered, but you want to make sure it's the right thing for you because if you are fortunate enough to have something go for a long term, you want to make sure that it's something that you really want to be spending a bulk of your time on.

Stephen Lang

You try to go where the great scripts are, if you can, or you go where the not great scripts are, because that's what's being offered to you.

Stephen Lang