Questions to Ask an Actor in an Interview
Questions to ask an actor in an interview, for a reporter, podcaster, student or blogger with a slot on a press day or a longer sit-down. They are grouped by subject: the role, the set, craft, career, and the closers. The standard ones are here, each with a note on how to get more than the press-kit answer, next to less common ones about scenes that would not work, casting, and the dream role nobody has offered them.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The role
What drew you to this role, and was there one thing in the script that made you want it?
Why ask it
Every actor on a press day is ready for the first half, so the second half does the work. It asks for a moment and not the whole project, which tends to get you a line or an image instead of a synopsis. It also tells you what they thought the story was before anyone shot it.
How did you prepare for the part?
Why ask it
Asked bare, it gets the paragraph from the press notes. Follow at once with what the first week of preparation looked like, or with something they tried that turned out to be no use, and the answer becomes a description of actual work.
Where are you most like this character, and where are you nothing alike?
Why ask it
The likeness is the half everyone asks and the difference is the half with the story, because it shows what they had to build and could not borrow from themselves. If they claim the two of them match completely, ask what the character does that they never would.
What was the hardest thing this role asked of you?
Why ask it
Leave it open and notice which kind of difficulty they pick: physical, emotional, or plain logistics. The choice says what the job was for them. When they name a scene, stay on that scene for your next two questions.
What did you have to learn how to do for this role?
Why ask it
A skill learned for a part comes with a teacher, a number of weeks and a first attempt that went badly, so this one rarely gets a vague answer. Ask who taught them, and whether they can still do it.
What was the audition for this like, or were you simply offered it?
Why ask it
Casting is the part of the business readers know least about, and the stories tend to be exact: the scene they read, who was in the room, how long the wait was afterward. An established actor may have been offered it over a lunch, which is a different story and just as usable.
How did you find the way this person talks and moves?
Why ask it
Voice and walk are where a character becomes visible, and most actors can say what came first: a pair of shoes, a regional vowel, a gesture lifted from an uncle. Find out which piece arrived early and which one held out until the last week.
What did you decide about this character that is nowhere in the script?
Why ask it
Plenty of actors carry a private fact or two that never reaches the audience. Some will share it and some guard it, and both responses show how much invention sat under the lines. Drop it if they say that telling would spoil the part.
Did you go back to the book or the real person, or did you stay away on purpose?
Why ask it
For an adaptation, a remake or a true story only. Both camps have a reason: one wants every source available and the other is afraid of doing an impression. The better follow-up is what they left out deliberately.
Was there a line or a scene in the script that you pushed back on?
Why ask it
It invites disagreement without asking them to criticize anyone by name. If the answer is no, ask what they asked to change, which is the same question put more gently. A line that was rewritten on the day is a good small story.
What surprised you about this character once you were actually playing them?
Why ask it
A reading at home and a body in costume do not always agree. The answer is usually a discovery from the second or third week, and it lets you write about a performance that was found as well as planned.
On set
How much of the performance was decided in rehearsal, and how much on the day?
Why ask it
Some productions rehearse for weeks and some meet at the first setup, so ask without assuming either. If there was no rehearsal at all, the follow-up is where the decisions got made: in a trailer, on a call with the director, or between takes.
What was it like working with this director?
Why ask it
On its own this earns a compliment, since nobody criticizes a director during a release. Turn it toward how this one runs a set: how many takes, how much talk before a scene, whether notes come quietly or across the room.
Was there one note from the director that changed how you played the whole part?
Why ask it
Asking for a single note gets you a sentence you can quote, often in the director's own words. Find out which scene it came in, so you can describe the before and the after.
What did your co-star do in a scene that you could not have planned for?
Why ask it
The stock co-star question collects the word 'generous' and little else. Pointing at something unplanned asks for a moment instead: a line read differently, a look that was never rehearsed. Use the co-star's name and, if you can, name the scene.
Which scene took the most attempts before it worked?
Why ask it
Actors tend to remember this day exactly, sometimes down to the take number. The useful part is why it kept failing: a line that would not sit, a prop, the weather, a laugh nobody could hold in. That reason often shows how the scene is put together.
Which scene did you most enjoy shooting, and is it the one you are proudest of?
Why ask it
Those are often two different scenes. The fun one tends to be loose, a dinner or a fight or a day with the whole cast, and the proud one tends to be quiet and difficult. You come away with two stories and a contrast to write around.
How much of what we see was improvised?
Why ask it
Audiences love the idea that the best line was made up on the spot, so a straight answer is useful whichever way it goes. If every word was scripted, ask how they kept it sounding unplanned by the ninth take.
What is the funniest thing that went wrong during the shoot?
Why ask it
A staple because it does its job: it lifts the mood, it is short, and it makes a clean pull quote or audio clip. Place it in the middle, where a laugh helps most, and move on after one story.
Whose work on set changed your performance in a way the audience will never notice?
Why ask it
Actors are usually glad to credit the costume designer, the dialect coach or the camera operator who made a scene possible, and nobody else that day will have asked. Get the name and its spelling, because a credit you get wrong is worse than one you leave out.
How much of the stunt and fight work was you?
Why ask it
'How much' leaves room for an honest answer and for crediting the double, where 'did you do your own stunts' pushes toward a boast. What an actor is allowed to do is often the production's decision and not theirs, so a no says nothing about nerve. The better story is usually the weeks of training for the part that was them.
How did you keep track of where your character was when scenes were shot out of order?
Why ask it
Screen work is seldom filmed in story order, so an actor may play the ending in the first week. Some keep a marked-up script or a chart on the wall and some lean on the script supervisor, and the answer shows how a performance holds together over months. Leave it out for a stage production.
Is there a scene that was cut that you still miss?
Why ask it
Actors usually know exactly what was lost and can explain why the edit was right anyway. Mind the ground rules here: a deleted scene can count as a spoiler, and some productions ask the cast not to discuss the cut at all.
Did you keep anything from the set?
Why ask it
Light, quick, and it nearly always has an answer: a prop, a piece of costume, the back of a chair with their name on it. It suits a short slot or a younger audience, and there may be a photo in it if they still have the thing.
Craft
What do you do in the ten minutes before a difficult scene?
Why ask it
The narrow time frame stops the answer becoming a general statement about process. Expect something small and practical: silence, a walk, music, a particular thought.
Do you stay in character between takes, or drop it when they call cut?
Why ask it
People are curious about this because of the stories about actors who never break. Most answers are less dramatic and more useful: who needs quiet, who jokes with the crew until 'action', and whether it changes with the part. Ask it without the word 'method', which some actors hear as a challenge.
Does a dark part follow you home, and how do you shake it off?
Why ask it
Ask plainly and let them decide how far to go. Some describe a routine, a drive or a shower or a rule about leaving the costume at work, and some say the idea is overblown and they are fine by dinner. Do not push for distress they are not offering.
How do you know when a take was good?
Why ask it
Some actors say they can feel it and some say they are the worst judge in the room. Either answer leads to the real subject, which is how far they trust a director or an editor to choose for them. Ask whether they look at the monitor between takes.
How is your preparation different now from when you started?
Why ask it
Many answers describe doing less: fewer notebooks, less backstory, more attention to the other actor. Ask what made them drop the thing they dropped, since there is usually one job or one teacher behind it.
How do you memorize your lines, and how early do you need to know them?
Why ask it
It sounds like a beginner's question and actors answer it gladly, because everybody has a system: a recording played in the car, a patient friend, first letters written out, a long walk. A school audience will want this before anything else, so students should keep it in.
Do you still get nervous before a first day on set or an opening night?
Why ask it
Expect a yes, so the interest is in where and when: the read-through, the first take opposite someone they grew up watching, the half hour before curtain. Then ask what they do about it, which is often something small and physical.
Is comedy harder for you than drama, or the other way round?
Why ask it
Asked as 'which do you prefer', it gets 'both'. 'Harder for you' asks for a weak spot, and actors tend to answer with something technical: timing that cannot be faked, keeping a straight face, crying again on the sixth take. Tie it to the project in front of you if it has both in it.
Do you watch your own performances, and what do you see when you do?
Why ask it
A plain yes or no that divides actors cleanly. The ones who watch can tell you what they look for, and the ones who refuse usually remember the exact screening that put them off. Both make a good short section.
What do you have to unlearn when you go from a theater to a film set, or back again?
Why ask it
Skip it unless they work in both. 'Unlearn' draws a more exact answer than asking for the difference: the size of a gesture, where the voice sits, the habit of holding something back for a second take that a stage never offers.
Do you read reviews?
Why ask it
Keep the tone light. Most actors have a policy and a story about the day they broke it. The subject is safer than it sounds, provided you do not quote a bad notice at them and wait for a reaction.
Is there a performance of yours you would like to do again?
Why ask it
This asks for self-criticism, so it needs to come late, after they trust the conversation. Refusing to answer is a fair answer and worth recording as one.
Career
How did you get started as an actor, and what was the first job you were paid for?
Why ask it
The origin story is already on file somewhere, so read it beforehand and aim at the part it skips. The first paid job is often that part: a commercial, a tour, one line in a police drama, and what the money went on.
Which actors did you study when you were starting out, and what did you take from them?
Why ask it
Left at 'who inspires you', this gets a list of famous names. The second half turns the list into technique: a way of listening, a stillness, a habit of throwing a line away. One name with a reason is worth more to you than five without.
Is there a part you did not get that you still think about?
Why ask it
The usual version, how do you handle rejection, gets a philosophy. Naming one lost part gets a story: how close it came, who played it in the end, whether they went to see it. Let them decline without pressing, and do not guess at the title for them.
Which job changed what you were offered afterward?
Why ask it
Not always the famous one. It may be a small part that one casting director remembered, and the answer shows how a career turns when seen from the inside. It pairs well with the question about the dream role nobody has offered them.
Which of your roles is your own favorite, and is it the one people stop you to talk about?
Why ask it
The gap between the part the public remembers and the part the actor values is dependable material. Go gently if the famous role is one they have tried to move past; the second half gives them a polite way to say so.
When a script arrives, what makes you say yes?
Why ask it
Writing, director, location, money, the school calendar: actors weigh these differently at different ages, and the candid ones admit it. If they are free to say, find out what the last project they turned down was missing.
What has changed about getting cast since you started?
Why ask it
Keep it on their own experience and off the state of the industry. Someone who has worked for a while can tell you what an audition used to involve and what it involves now, in a room or on a tape made at home, and which they would choose. For an actor a year or two in, swap it for what surprised them about auditioning.
What part of the job would surprise people who only see the finished thing?
Why ask it
Expect the waiting, the early calls, or how little of a long day is spent acting. Ask them to walk you through one ordinary day hour by hour and you have a paragraph no review contains.
Is there a dream role that nobody has offered you yet?
Why ask it
Asked as 'what is your dream role', this gets Hamlet or a villain in a franchise. The 'nobody has offered' half points somewhere more useful: how they are being typecast, and what they think they are not yet trusted with.
Do you want to write, direct or produce, or is acting the whole job for you?
Why ask it
Fair for anyone a few projects in, and there is often a script in a drawer. For someone who has already crossed over, the richer question is what the other side of the camera taught them about what actors need.
If acting had not worked out, what do you think you would be doing?
Why ask it
A light one that most people can answer in a sentence, and the job they name is often one they really did for a while: waiting tables, teaching, a year of law. If they say there was never a second plan, ask how long they gave themselves.
Closers
What do you hope people are still thinking about after they have seen it?
Why ask it
This one invites a sentence about themes, which is why it belongs near the end, once they have warmed up. If the answer stays general, ask which reaction from a friend or a relative has stuck with them.
What do you do on a day off that has nothing to do with acting?
Why ask it
This is the safe way to ask about life away from work, because they choose how personal to make it: a garden, a football team, a bad golf swing. It suits a student paper or a fan audience, and it is the first one to cut when the slot is short.
What are you working on next, and how much of it can you talk about?
Why ask it
Publicists expect it and editors want it, and it frequently comes with a restriction. Acknowledging that up front tends to earn a little more than the official line. Check the answer against what has been announced before you publish.
What would you tell a young actor starting out now that nobody told you?
Why ask it
Student interviewers should always include it, since a school audience wants exactly this. The clause at the end steers away from 'never give up' and toward something practical: money, classes, moving to a bigger city, saying no.
What question do you get in every interview that you wish people would drop?
Why ask it
Ask it with a smile, near the end. You get a line for the piece, a laugh, and a quiet review of your own list, since the question they name may be one you asked twenty minutes ago.
What have I not asked that you were hoping to talk about?
Why ask it
On a press tour this can produce the one thing they have been waiting all day to say. Do not reach for the stop button as you ask it. The most relaxed answer of the interview often arrives while people are gathering their things.
Interviewing an Actor Well
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Preparation and Approach
Watch the work, and watch one scene twice
A question about one choice in one scene shows you watched the thing, and it is the quickest way out of the press-kit answers. Pick the scene before you arrive and write down what you want to know about it.
Find out how long you have
A junket slot can be only a few minutes, with a publicist keeping time. Ask beforehand, plan three or four questions for a short slot and not ten, and put the one you most want at the front.
Ask about process rather than meaning
Many actors would sooner explain how a scene was built than what the film means. The how usually makes better copy anyway, and it is the thing only they can tell you.
Check what you may not ask
There may be spoiler embargoes or an agreement about a subject. Establish that in advance so you do not spend your slot on a question that gets refused.
Choose from the list, do not read it out
Nobody gets through a list this long, and an actor can hear a questionnaire coming. For a ten-minute slot take two from The role, one from On set, one from Craft or Career and a closer, then mark two spares in case an answer comes back short.
What Goes Wrong
Asking them to describe the plot
They will do it, at length, and it uses up time you do not have. Summarize the premise yourself in the question and ask about something inside it.
Drifting into their private life
Questions about relationships, family or how they look can close an interview down, and the answers are rarely worth what they cost the rest of it. If you want something personal, ask about a day off and let them choose what to share.
Asking the standard questions bare
What drew you to it, how did you prepare and what is next all get recycled answers when they are asked with nothing attached, because the actor has been answering them all week. Keep them, since editors and readers expect them, and fasten each to a detail only this person can speak to: a scene, a skill, a day on set.
Comparing them to another actor
It reads as flattery or as insult and rarely produces anything usable. Ask about their own earlier work instead if you want a comparison.
Three Interview Shapes
A short promotional slot
- 1Open with what drew them to the role, and the one thing in the script that did it.
- 2Follow with one specific scene and how it was built.
- 3Ask what they had to learn how to do.
- 4Close with the question they wish interviewers would drop, which usually ends the slot warmly.
A longer profile conversation
- 1Start with practical preparation and rehearsal, which is easy ground.
- 2Move to the specifics of the set: the director's notes, the collaborators, the scene that took the most attempts.
- 3Then go to the shape of the career: the first paid job, the part they did not get, the dream role nobody has offered.
- 4Leave self-criticism and the performance they would do again until the end.
A student or first-time interview
- 1Begin with how they got started and the first job they were paid for.
- 2Ask how they prepared for the part you saw and how they memorize their lines, and name one scene you want to hear about.
- 3Use one light question in the middle: the funniest thing that went wrong, or what they kept from the set.
- 4Finish with what they would tell a young actor starting out, then ask what you missed.