Michael Eklund Quotations

With the type of actor I am, which includes really diving into a role and making it as real as possible, there's nothing better than working in a real environment on location. It forces you to feel what the character's feeling, and it allows you to live in the space of the character.

That's what acting is all about - it's all about bringing truth from your own life, and putting it into your characters. If you have the advantage of using your own life in your work, that's always the way to go.

I've played characters who are dark and have done things I never have experienced, which is why I try to find the reasons why they do what they do. We're all people, and go through similar emotions.

With the way I like to work, I always have to draw [inspiration] from somewhere, and the best place to take from is your own life.

With a film, you know the beginning, middle and end of your character's arc. But on a TV show, you have no idea where they're going to end up.

Whether it's a lower or higher budget project, a TV show or a film, the words on the page are the same to me and I approach the work in the same way. My job is to lift the character from the page, whether it's a TV or film script.

If I have to wear a hat as a producer to do that, then I'm willing to do that. An actor's, producer's and director's point-of-view is all the same to me, as long as the story's being told.

Every thriller needs a good bad guy; without a bad guy, there's no thriller.

I do like playing the darker side of life but as much as the lighter side as well. They all resonate out of the same place, which is that everyone has a story to tell. Depending on their upbringing and their history, it determines who they are as an adult. My job is to take the role from there.

Xavier Gens is probably the busiest filmmaker that I know.