Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stilesis an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at age 11 and made her screen debut as Erica Dansby in six episodes of the television series Ghostwriter. Her first film role was in I Love You, I Love You Not, followed by a leading role in the thriller Wicked, for which she was awarded the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She went on to gain prominence for her...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth28 March 1981
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I know it sounds earnest, but I do really feel in my bones that acting is just a small part of the equation when you are making a movie. The director really is in charge. Actors are as important or unimportant as the rest of the people around them.
I've really turned a corner recently in terms of not taking work too seriously, so it is much easier for me to not take my work home.
Yoga has stopped me from destroying my joints after running. It slows me down.
Fundamentally women and men are different.
In my worst moments, I try to think about loving instead of hating. Creation versus destruction, know what I'm sayin'?
I am forever a romantic. I try to bring that into my work. I try not to be fooled by romance. Or work.
Seeing other people in pain causes me pain.
Education is huge for me. I went to public school until I turned thirteen, and was lucky enough to afford college once I became successful as an actress.
I used to struggle a lot with dwelling on how the day at work was, and I would dwell on my performance. Now, I'm like, "Well, that's over and done with, and I can't control the outcome, so move on." I just remember that it's entertainment I am making.
Actors can write and produce too. Then when I was working on Jason Bourne - having had that experience - instead of going back to my trailer and being separate from everyone else, I would sit behind the monitor and watch Paul Greengrass work and be much more included in the process. That was new for me and really enriching.
I like a director who is very observant and is watching what I'm doing and noticing what I'm doing, but is giving me time to figure it out. They don't jump right in and give you a note before you've had time to really search on your own with how to do a scene.
I did a run of a play over the summer in a really tiny theater in New York and that was rejuvenating for me. I directed a short series for Hulu called Paloma and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting.
I remember seeing Janet McTeer in A Doll's House. My grandmother took me and we had seats in the very back row, but her performance was so powerful - it was very accessible. I felt like I was much closer than I was.
My grandmother took me to a lot of theater. I was exposed to performance quite a bit - everything from Broadway to off-Broadway and dance and music as well. I was very lucky that way. It was a very rich childhood.