Matt Ross quotes:

My background is in largely in theatre and acting. I grew up in a town with a well-respected Shakespeare Festival, and I fell in with some kids whose parents worked there. We staged all-kid versions of 'Hamlet', 'Cymbeline', a few others. All the while, I was making short films; monster movies, slapstick comedies, claymation.

One of the fun things for me, about acting, is trying to transform. Transformational acting was the reason why I became an actor, in the first place.

Transformational acting was the reason why I became an actor in the first place. Your hair and make-up and the costume are the tools that you have, and it makes you feel like that person. When you look in the mirror, you don't feel like yourself, and it changes the way you move. I love that stuff.

When people talk about careers, I always feel like the connotation of a career is that you're actually choosing things.

I can sing, but it takes an incredible amount of work for me to sound acceptable.

I played guitar when I was a kid, a little bit. I can tool around with a guitar, but I'm certainly not a musician.

If everyone thinks you're bizarre and creepy, then you play bad guys. If everyone thinks you're beautiful and wants to kiss you, then you play the lead role.

One of the things that's fun about that is that sometimes you grow up knowing about someone because they were famous, but you don't really know what they were like before they were famous.

The challenge and love, for me, of acting is if you get to transform or do something you haven't done before. That's fun.

When you listen to someone's songs, their soul comes through.

A lot of acting requires you to be a charming version of yourself.