Prior to being allowed to enter the profession prospective teachers should be asked to talk with a group of friendly students for at least half an hour and be able to engage them in an interesting conversation about any subject the prospective teacher wants to talk about.

I was raised in New York City and raised in the New York City theater world. My father was a theater director and an acting teacher and it was not uncommon for me to have long discussions about the method and what the various different processes were to finding a character and exploring character and realizing that character.

Nearly everyone I met worked with or read about was my teacher one way or another.

The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group and see that individual or group exceed their limits.

There's something very beautiful and compelling about someone who has ambition and someone who knows what they want but it can get a little frustrating at times so I understand that. I have sympathy for that.

My mother listened to all the news from the camp during the strike. She said little especially when my father or the men who worked for him were about I remember her instinctive and unhesitating sympathy for the miners.

I don't care about sympathy. I care about playing a character who's understandable and clear.

I feel sympathy for the working class lad. I've always championed about ticket prices and try to equate that to people's salaries.

When you've been raised in care rap music isn't just about guns and sexism. They're talking about real things you can hang on to problems of identity that you have sympathy with. It's not just about the music with rap: when I was in care it meant a whole lot more than that.

I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long.