Happy Birthday Colm Meaney!

In the past I've worked with directors who saw very much their scene in their head and knew exactly how they were going to cut it.

As an actor, my background is in the theater and I feel that my strong suit is period work, but I actually didn't do much of it at all, until the last three or four years. I'm loving it!

It's interesting because I haven't done a lot of period work in the past, but I always wanted to because I'm interested in history.

I've always been a character actor, you know, and you always get your share of character actors who are bad guys. So it never surprises me. And if it's good writing, you can find your way into the part well enough.

 Well, I've always been a character actor, you know, and you always get your share of character actors who are bad guys.

I love doing comedy. You don't get many good comedy scripts. They're rare. But, I do love playing comedy. Even in drama, I like to try to find the humor because I think it's very human.

Talking about the show reminds you of things that you went through. So it's fun. When the show was on, I couldn't have handled it. I didn't want that direct connection.

I do probably 80 or 90 per cent of the cooking at home.

There's no reason not to be in television now. You get to live at home and you're not on the road all the time, they pay you decent money, and the writing's good. You're not compromising for it, you know. 

As an actor, I like to get a bit of momentum going with a character and kind of work a bit quicker. I mean, not crazy-fast, but, you know, five or six pages a day is a nice pace.

Even in drama, I like to try to find the humor because I think it's very human. Even in the depths of dreadful situations, there's usually something rather comic, or something you can laugh about afterwards, at least.

I suppose I look for humor in most situations because it humanizes things; it makes a character much more three-dimensional if there's some kind of humor. Not necessarily laugh-out-loud type of stuff, just a sense that there is a humorous edge to things. I do like that.

I do like working on independent films where it is a smaller budget and less pressure. The pace is also quicker than that of a big budget film. You are shooting at a fairly fast pace. Sitting around for three or four days can be quite draining. So I guess in terms of film or television, I would say filming an independent feature.

I usually look at things like that from an audience perspective first, then have a closer look at the specific character they're talking about me for.

Colin Morgan gives a stunning performance in Parked; he plays Merlin in the BBC TV show and he says the two characters are like night and day. Watch him. He’s got everything it takes to be top notch.

Even in the depths of dreadful situations, there's usually something rather comic, or something you can laugh about afterwards, at least. So, I do look for the comedy in those things. 

You never know when the publicity people will feel it is a good time to release the film.

If you're playing the a historical character that's in the public consciousness, then obviously you've got to make an effort to look like that person and there's a huge amount of historical record there that you have to kind of comply to.

I do go back to Ireland, and I'll probably be doing a film in Ireland in January, and I guess that kind of keeps me classified as 'the Irish actor,' but the last four or five projects that I've been in are either American or English, so I don't feel terribly trapped in that. But sometimes, yeah, you would like to not be called 'the Irish actor.' You'd prefer to just be called 'the actor.'

My old manager of the Irish National Theatre said 'Don't worry about being a star, just worry about being a working actor. Just keep working.' I think that's really good advice.

I usually read a script from an audience perspective first, and then look more closely at the character only.

Normally when I'm sent a script I'll read it through to see how it hangs as a story and then I'll go back and read it through again and look at the character.

The digital revolution has changed the way we do things because you're not under that pressure that film is precious and film is expensive.

I kind of have an interest in all history. And I suspect it comes from being Irish - we like stories, we like telling stories, which makes a lot of us lean towards being writers or actors or directors.

There are so many burning issues to be dealt with that it's completely understandable and natural that a character is struggling with these issues themselves. In that struggle, you inform the audience. The thing about this writing is that it's very easy to learn. Good writing always is.

Which is good, in a way, because the danger in doing something like STAR TREK is that you end up in that pigeonhole and you're doing that the rest of your life.

I'm not a big method actor. I'm much more superficial.

I played trombone for 10 minutes, and then I was in an accordion band in school for even less.

A good comedy's very hard to make, so good comic writing I really enjoy.

Happy Birthday Eddie McClintock!

Anytime you spend 15 or 16 hours a day with someone, five days a week for six months, that's more time than some people spend with their own families, so it does affect the dynamic between the actors. 

I remember the '80s being about the Cold War and Reagan and the homeless problem and AIDS. To me, it was kind of a dark, depressing time.

Comedy is a comfortable yet challenging place for me. I will always feel an inner pressure to do my best and to improve. 

I have a good friend who's a Texas girl; Texas girls are a whole different breed.

I grew up wrestling and playing football where, at the end of the game, you have a score and you're either the winner of loser. There's no score in acting, but you qualify your level of success by the people that you work with and the amount of exposure that you have. 

I just love the process of working with other actors. It's like jamming with a musician, except it takes a little more effort to get to that place as an actor, because you have the cameras and lights and everything. But I love jamming with these people.

I was supposed to go see Led Zeppelin when I was in, like, the 8th or 9th grade, and then John Bonham died and I never was able to. For me, music is such a huge part of my life, and I use songs like memory triggers. So a lot of my memories of being a kid and growing up are associated with different songs. 

I think being self-referential is really narcissistic. Who's to say anybody's even thinking of you that much? But some of these movies that I've done, people still recite lines to me, even 20 years later.

You know, I Google search my own name because I'm so self-obsessed! 

I just want to be able to have fun, make a living, feed my family and create something that I'm proud of, and I'm all those things. It's great. 

When I decided to be an actor, years ago, I just said, 'Look, I'm not going to do this unless I can be the best,' but I don't know what 'the best' is. 

Happy Birthday Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowski!

Wer glaubt, daß der schaffende Künstler im Augenblick des Affekts fähig sei, Empfindungen auszudrücken, der irrt. Sowohl freudige als auch traurige Gefühle lassen sich nur rückblickend wiedergeben.

Die Inspiration ist ein solcher Besucher, der nicht immer bei der ersten Einladung erscheint.

Man kann nicht aus Angst vor dem Tod auf Zehenspitzen durch das Leben gehen.

Ich spielte einige Kompositionen von diesem schrecklichen Brahms. Was für ein unbegabter Bastard!

Wenn auf eine Million Menschen ein einziger kommt, der so ist wie Sie, so genügt das schon, um an der Menschheit nicht zu verzweifeln.

Happy Birthday Johannes Brahms!

Ich könnte dich nicht so sehr lieben, meine Liebste, wenn ich meine Freiheit nicht noch mehr lieben würde.

A symphony is no joke.

Wenn mir eine hübsche Melodie einfällt, ist mir das lieber als ein Leopoldsorden.

If there is anyone here whom I have not insulted, I beg his pardon.

Der Elefant ist ein gefährliches Tier, denn aus seinen Stoßzähnen werden Klaviertasten gemacht.

It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous notes under the table.

Es ist nicht schwer zu komponieren. Aber es ist fabelhaft schwer, die überflüssigen Noten unter den Tisch fallen zu lassen.

Those who enjoy their own emotionally bad health and who habitually fill their own minds with the rank poisons of suspicion, jealousy and hatred, as a rule take umbrage at those who refuse to do likewise, and they find a perverted relief in trying to denigrate them.

Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit; aber ich will euch wiedersehen, und euer Herz soll sich freuen, und eure Freude soll niemand von euch nehmen.

Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.

Wozu hat denn der Mensch das himmlische Geschenk, die Hoffnung empfangen?

We cling nervously to the melody, but we don't handle it freely, we don't really make anything new out of it, we merely overload it.

Bisher habe ich gedacht, daß Richard Strauss der Anführer der Revolution sei, aber jetzt sehe ich, daß Mahler der König der Umstürzler ist.

Straight-away the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind's eye, but they are clothed in the right forms, harmonies, and orchestration.

Orden sind mir wurscht, aber haben will ich sie.

Composers in the old days used to keep strictly to the base of the theme, as their real subject. Beethoven varies the melody, harmony and rhythms so beautifully. 

Tod, wo ist dein Stachel? Hölle, wo ist dein Sieg?

I sometimes ponder on variation form and it seems to me it ought to be more restrained, purer. 

Frei, aber einsam.

Ich denke nur Musik. Ich bin verliebt in die Musik - ich liebe die Musik, ich denke nichts als sie und an anderes nur, wenn es mir Musik schöner macht.

Und sollte ich vergessen haben, jemanden zu beschimpfen, dann bitte ich um Verzeihung!

Verlorengegangenes Vertrauen ist schwer zurückzugewinnen, denn Vertrauen wächst nicht nach, wie ein Zehennagel.

Falls es hier jemanden gibt, den ich noch nicht beleidigt habe, den bitte ich um Entschuldigung.

Es ist wohl das erstemal, daß ich dem, was von mir ausgeht, mit Zärtlichkeit nachsehe. Es ist eine Sammlung deutscher Volkslieder mit Klavier.