Lorraine Toussaint Quotes

I don’t think anyone would disagree with this: You are self-directed in daytime, and that’s it. So come with it, and bring it on the first take.

As a modern woman, there are things I take for granted, and that shows up in the way I sit, the way I walk, the way I think, and what I know to be possible.

Sometimes the character will go into a completely different direction than I expected once the cameras start rolling. That’s what I love about what I do.

My job as an actor is to cover and expose in varying allowance that – so that the audience can peek through the window to the people I create.

I hope that whenever my daughter has a negative experience, I’m there to talk about it and remind her how we feel when it’s done to her so that she doesn’t do it to others.

I keep waiting for someone to cast me as the angel or the witch or the immortal of some kind because so much of the reading I do for my own pleasure is fantasy, horror, or sci-fi.

Anything you need, you can get on YouTube. It’s wacky.

Once I’m on set, the only thing I’m really interested in is being in the room. Being present. And trusting that what I’ve done is sufficient, and I’m also trusting that I’ve also left room for magic.

When you eliminate vanity from an art form, and I would think that this would be any art form, what is left is an opportunity to be incredibly naked and truthful.

We actors are superstitious creatures. We do all the homework, and we put all of the components together, but there’s always one key aspect that we’re not in charge of, really, and that’s magic. You are always on the lookout for where and how that magic is going to ignite.

When you’re playing a real character, you want to honor that person and receive inspiration from that person. They need to anoint you in some way that allows you to borrow just a small piece of their soul. That is the flame.

I have read every book in the ‘Dune‘ series and every Anne Rice book.

‘Body of Proof‘ was interesting because… I didn’t feel I needed to prove anything in that audition. I didn’t over-prepare it, but I was just very relaxed in it.

I grew up a middle class, colonized child of teachers and librarians and people, women especially, who treasured education.

I grew up under the British system, which I think is horrific for children – very, very strict – a system that did not recognize children as being individuals. You were small animals earning the right to be human.