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• Acting and Actors
The mere mechanical technique of acting can be taught, but the spirit that is to give life to lifeless forms must be born in a man. No dramatic college can teach its pupils to think or to feel. It is Nature who makes our artists for us, though it may be Art who taught them their right mode of expression.
• Acting and Actors
The mere mechanical technique of acting can be taught, but the spirit that is to give life to lifeless forms must be born in a man. No dramatic college can teach its pupils to think or to feel. It is Nature who makes our artists for us, though it may be Art who taught them their right mode of expression.
• Acting and Actors
The mere mechanical technique of acting can be taught, but the spirit that is to give life to lifeless forms must be born in a man. No dramatic college can teach its pupils to think or to feel. It is Nature who makes our artists for us, though it may be Art who taught them their right mode of expression.
• Acting and Actors
The mere mechanical technique of acting can be taught, but the spirit that is to give life to lifeless forms must be born in a man. No dramatic college can teach its pupils to think or to feel. It is Nature who makes our artists for us, though it may be Art who taught them their right mode of expression.
• Alley, Kirstie
You are not in business to be popular.
• Alley, Kirstie
You are not in business to be popular.
• Amiel, Henri Frederic
We become actors without realizing it, and actors without wanting to.
• Amiel, Henri Frederic
We become actors without realizing it, and actors without wanting to.
• Auden, W. H.
The actors today really need the whip hand. They're so lazy. They haven't got the sense of pride in their profession that the less socially elevated musical comedy and music hall people or acrobats have. The theater has never been any good since the actors became gentlemen.
• Auden, W. H.
The actors today really need the whip hand. They're so lazy. They haven't got the sense of pride in their profession that the less socially elevated musical comedy and music hall people or acrobats have. The theater has never been any good since the actors became gentlemen.
• Baldwin, Alec
I don't get acting jobs because of my looks.
• Baldwin, Alec
I don't get acting jobs because of my looks.
• Barkin, Ellen
Acting is a matter of giving away secrets.
• Barkin, Ellen
Acting is a matter of giving away secrets.
• Barrymore, Ethel
For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a Macaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.
• Barrymore, Ethel
For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a Macaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.
• Barthes, Roland
The face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn an Event.
• Barthes, Roland
The face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn an Event.
• Bernhardt, Sarah
For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture.
• Bernhardt, Sarah
For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture.
• Brando, Marlon
To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.
• Brando, Marlon
Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis.
• Brando, Marlon
To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.
• Brando, Marlon
Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis.
• Brandy
The hardest part has been maintaining a small head -- remaining down to earth. So many people try to make you more than you are. This business has changed a lot of good people and a lot of good families, and I don't want that to happen to me.
• Brandy
The hardest part has been maintaining a small head -- remaining down to earth. So many people try to make you more than you are. This business has changed a lot of good people and a lot of good families, and I don't want that to happen to me.
• Brecht, Bertolt
A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls.
• Brecht, Bertolt
A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Bresson, Robert
One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.
• Brook, Peter (Stephen Paul)
The actor searches vainly for the sound of a vanished tradition, and critic and audience follow suit. We have lost all sense of ritual and ceremony -- whether it be connected with Christmas, birthdays or funerals -- but the words remain with us and old impulses stir in the marrow. We feel we should have rituals, we should do something about getting them and we blame the artists for not finding them for us. So the artist sometimes attempts to find new rituals with only his imagination as his source: he imitates the outer form of ceremonies, pagan or baroque, unfortunately adding his own trapping -- the result is rarely convincing. And after the years and years of weaker and waterier imitations we now find ourselves rejecting the very notion of a holy stage. It is not the fault of the holy that it has become a middle-class weapon to keep the children good.
• Brook, Peter (Stephen Paul)
The actor searches vainly for the sound of a vanished tradition, and critic and audience follow suit. We have lost all sense of ritual and ceremony -- whether it be connected with Christmas, birthdays or funerals -- but the words remain with us and old impulses stir in the marrow. We feel we should have rituals, we should do something about getting them and we blame the artists for not finding them for us. So the artist sometimes attempts to find new rituals with only his imagination as his source: he imitates the outer form of ceremonies, pagan or baroque, unfortunately adding his own trapping -- the result is rarely convincing. And after the years and years of weaker and waterier imitations we now find ourselves rejecting the very notion of a holy stage. It is not the fault of the holy that it has become a middle-class weapon to keep the children good.
• Brosnan, Pierce
From '86 until the summer of last year, wherever I went, people would say, You would have made a great James Bond! Weren't you going to be James Bond? You should have been, you could have been, you may have been. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. It was like unfinished business in my life. I couldn't say no to it this time around.
• Brosnan, Pierce
From '86 until the summer of last year, wherever I went, people would say, You would have made a great James Bond! Weren't you going to be James Bond? You should have been, you could have been, you may have been. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. It was like unfinished business in my life. I couldn't say no to it this time around.
• Buscemi, Steve
When I was a fireman I was in a lot of burning buildings. It was a great job, the only job I ever had that compares with the thrill of acting. Before going into a fire, there's the same surge of adrenaline you get just before the camera rolls.
• Buscemi, Steve
When I was a fireman I was in a lot of burning buildings. It was a great job, the only job I ever had that compares with the thrill of acting. Before going into a fire, there's the same surge of adrenaline you get just before the camera rolls.
• Byron, Lord
I am acquainted with no immaterial sensuality so delightful as good acting.
• Byron, Lord
I am acquainted with no immaterial sensuality so delightful as good acting.
• Caine, Michael
First of all, I choose the great [roles], and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.
• Caine, Michael
First of all, I choose the great [roles], and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.
• Campbell, Bruce
Such is an actor's life. We must ride the waves of every film, barfing occasionally, yet maintain our dignity, even as the bulk of our Herculean efforts are keel-hauled before our very eyes. [On filming MacHale's Navy]
• Campbell, Bruce
Such is an actor's life. We must ride the waves of every film, barfing occasionally, yet maintain our dignity, even as the bulk of our Herculean efforts are keel-hauled before our very eyes. [On filming MacHale's Navy]
• Campbell, Thomas
The popularity of that baby-faced boy, who possessed not even the elements of a good actor, was a hallucination in the public mind, and a disgrace to our theatrical history.
• Campbell, Thomas
The popularity of that baby-faced boy, who possessed not even the elements of a good actor, was a hallucination in the public mind, and a disgrace to our theatrical history.
• Carrey, Jim
Until Ace Ventura, no actor had considered talking through his ass.
• Carrey, Jim
Until Ace Ventura, no actor had considered talking through his ass.
• Cervantes, Miguel De
The most difficult character in comedy is that of the fool, and he must be no simpleton that plays that part.
• Cervantes, Miguel De
The most difficult character in comedy is that of the fool, and he must be no simpleton that plays that part.
• Chaplin, Charlie
The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.
• Chaplin, Charlie
The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.
• Chase, Chevy
Actors search for rejection. If they don't get it they reject themselves.
• Chase, Chevy
Actors search for rejection. If they don't get it they reject themselves.
• Chekhov, Anton
When an actor has money, he doesn't send letters, but telegrams.
• Chekhov, Anton
When an actor has money, he doesn't send letters, but telegrams.
Chow Yun-Fat
An actor is only merchandise.
• Chow Yun-Fat
An actor is only merchandise.
• Close, Glenn
I really think that effective acting has to do literally with the movement of molecules.
• Close, Glenn
I really think that effective acting has to do literally with the movement of molecules.
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
To see him act is like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
To see him act is like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.
• Cusack, John
Celebrity is death --- celebrity -- that's the worst thing that can happen to an actor.
• Cusack, John
Celebrity is death --- celebrity -- that's the worst thing that can happen to an actor.
• D'Onofrio, Vincent
Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls. The key is always to speak in your own voice. Speak the truth. That's Acting 101. Then you start putting layers on top of that. [On his acting techniques]
• D'Onofrio, Vincent
Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls. The key is always to speak in your own voice. Speak the truth. That's Acting 101. Then you start putting layers on top of that. [On his acting techniques]
• Damme, Jean-Claude Van
I am the Fred Astaire of karate.
• Damme, Jean-Claude Van
I am the Fred Astaire of karate.
• Davies, Marion
Somebody told me I should put a pebble in my mouth to cure my stuttering. Well, I tried it, and during a scene I swallowed the pebble. That was the end of that.
• Davies, Marion
Somebody told me I should put a pebble in my mouth to cure my stuttering. Well, I tried it, and during a scene I swallowed the pebble. That was the end of that.
• Davis Jr., Sammy
You name it and I've done it. I'd like to say I did it my way. But that line, I'm afraid, belongs to someone else.
• Davis Jr., Sammy
You name it and I've done it. I'd like to say I did it my way. But that line, I'm afraid, belongs to someone else.
• Davis, Bette
The real actor has a direct line to the collective heart.
• Davis, Bette
The real actor has a direct line to the collective heart.
• Diderot, Denis
I have often seen an actor laugh off the stage, but I don't remember ever having seen one weep.
• Diderot, Denis
I have often seen an actor laugh off the stage, but I don't remember ever having seen one weep.
Driver, Minnie
I'd prefer not to be the pretty thing in a film. It's such a bloody responsibility to look cute, because people know when you don't and they're like, They're trying to pass her off as the cute girl and she's looking like a bedraggled sack of potatoes.
• Driver, Minnie
I'd prefer not to be the pretty thing in a film. It's such a bloody responsibility to look cute, because people know when you don't and they're like, They're trying to pass her off as the cute girl and she's looking like a bedraggled sack of potatoes.
• Dryfus, Richard
I find myself fascinating.
• Dryfus, Richard
I find myself fascinating.
• Dundy, Elaine
I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again, night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway; might as well get paid for it.
• Dundy, Elaine
I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again, night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway; might as well get paid for it.
• Duras, Marguerite
Acting doesn't bring anything to a text. On the contrary, it detracts from it.
• Duras, Marguerite
She represents the un-vowed aspiration of the male human being, his potential infidelity -- and infidelity of a very special kind, which would lead him to the opposite of his wife, to the woman of wax whom he could model at will, make and unmake in any way he wished, even unto death.
• Duras, Marguerite
Acting doesn't bring anything to a text. On the contrary, it detracts from it.
• Duras, Marguerite
She represents the un-vowed aspiration of the male human being, his potential infidelity -- and infidelity of a very special kind, which would lead him to the opposite of his wife, to the woman of wax whom he could model at will, make and unmake in any way he wished, even unto death.
• Field, Eugene
Mr. Clarke played the King all evening as though under constant fear that someone else was about to play the Ace.
• Field, Eugene
Mr. Clarke played the King all evening as though under constant fear that someone else was about to play the Ace.
• Fields, W. C.
Show me a great actor and I'll show you a lousy husband. Show me a great actress, and you've seen the devil.
• Fields, W. C.
Show me a great actor and I'll show you a lousy husband. Show me a great actress, and you've seen the devil.
• Fiske, Minnie
The great actors are the luminous ones. They are the great conductors of the stage.
• Fiske, Minnie
The great actors are the luminous ones. They are the great conductors of the stage.
• Fonda, Henry
The best actors do not let the wheels show.
• Fonda, Henry
The best actors do not let the wheels show.
• Fonda, Jane
A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming.
• Fonda, Jane
You spend all your life trying to do something they put people in asylums for.
• Fonda, Jane
A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming.
• Fonda, Jane
You spend all your life trying to do something they put people in asylums for.
• Ford, Harrison
I'm an assistant storyteller. It's like being a waiter or a gas-station attendant, but I'm waiting on six million people a week, if I'm lucky. [On being an actor]
• Ford, Harrison
I'm an assistant storyteller. It's like being a waiter or a gas-station attendant, but I'm waiting on six million people a week, if I'm lucky. [On being an actor]
• Forrest, Edwin
The actor's popularity is evanescent; applauded today, forgotten tomorrow.
• Forrest, Edwin
The actor's popularity is evanescent; applauded today, forgotten tomorrow.
• Garland, Judy
I was born at the age of twelve on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.
• Garland, Judy
I was born at the age of twelve on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.
• George, Boy
If you have to be in a soap opera try not to get the worst role.
• George, Boy
If you have to be in a soap opera try not to get the worst role.
• Glass, George
An actor is a guy who, if you ain't talking about him, he ain't listening.
• Glass, George
An actor is a guy who, if you ain't talking about him, he ain't listening.
• Goldblum, Jeff
Acting is nothing more or less than playing. The idea is to humanize life.
• Goldblum, Jeff
Acting is nothing more or less than playing. The idea is to humanize life.
• Guiness, Sir Alec
Acting is happy agony.
• Guiness, Sir Alec
Acting is happy agony.
• Hagen, Uta
More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.
• Hagen, Uta
More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.
• Half, Robert
Acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea.
• Half, Robert
Acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea.
• Hannah, Daryl
A movie camera is like having someone you have a crush on watching you from afar -- you pretend it's not there.
• Hannah, Daryl
A movie camera is like having someone you have a crush on watching you from afar -- you pretend it's not there.
• Hazlitt, William
They are the only honest hypocrites, their life is a voluntary dream, a studied madness.
• Hazlitt, William
We must overact our part in some measure, in order to produce any effect at all.
• Hazlitt, William
They are, as it were, train-bearers in the pageant of life, and hold a glass up to humanity, frailer than itself. We see ourselves at second-hand in them: they show us all that we are, all that we wish to be, and all that we dread to be. What brings the resemblance nearer is, that, as they imitate us, we, in our turn, imitate them. There is no class of society whom so many persons regard with affection as actors.
• Hazlitt, William
They are the only honest hypocrites, their life is a voluntary dream, a studied madness.
• Hazlitt, William
We must overact our part in some measure, in order to produce any effect at all.
• Hazlitt, William
They are, as it were, train-bearers in the pageant of life, and hold a glass up to humanity, frailer than itself. We see ourselves at second-hand in them: they show us all that we are, all that we wish to be, and all that we dread to be. What brings the resemblance nearer is, that, as they imitate us, we, in our turn, imitate them. There is no class of society whom so many persons regard with affection as actors.
• Hepburn, Katharine
Acting is the perfect idiot's profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
The most minor gifts and not a very high class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.
• Hepburn, Katharine
It's a business you go into because your an egocentric. It's a very embarrassing profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
If you give an audience a chance they will do half your acting for you.
• Hepburn, Katharine
Acting is the perfect idiot's profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
The most minor gifts and not a very high class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.
• Hepburn, Katharine
It's a business you go into because your an egocentric. It's a very embarrassing profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
If you give an audience a chance they will do half your acting for you.
• Hitchcock, Alfred
I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
• Hitchcock, Alfred
I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
• Howard, Ron
You reach a point where you say you're not going to do juveniles any longer.
• Howard, Ron
You reach a point where you say you're not going to do juveniles any longer.
• Hannah, Daryl
A movie camera is like having someone you have a crush on watching you from afar -- you pretend it's not there.
• Hannah, Daryl
A movie camera is like having someone you have a crush on watching you from afar -- you pretend it's not there.
• Hazlitt, William
They are the only honest hypocrites, their life is a voluntary dream, a studied madness.
• Hazlitt, William
We must overact our part in some measure, in order to produce any effect at all.
• Hazlitt, William
They are, as it were, train-bearers in the pageant of life, and hold a glass up to humanity, frailer than itself. We see ourselves at second-hand in them: they show us all that we are, all that we wish to be, and all that we dread to be. What brings the resemblance nearer is, that, as they imitate us, we, in our turn, imitate them. There is no class of society whom so many persons regard with affection as actors.
• Hazlitt, William
They are the only honest hypocrites, their life is a voluntary dream, a studied madness.
• Hazlitt, William
We must overact our part in some measure, in order to produce any effect at all.
• Hazlitt, William
They are, as it were, train-bearers in the pageant of life, and hold a glass up to humanity, frailer than itself. We see ourselves at second-hand in them: they show us all that we are, all that we wish to be, and all that we dread to be. What brings the resemblance nearer is, that, as they imitate us, we, in our turn, imitate them. There is no class of society whom so many persons regard with affection as actors.
• Hepburn, Katharine
Acting is the perfect idiot's profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
The most minor gifts and not a very high class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.
• Hepburn, Katharine
It's a business you go into because your an egocentric. It's a very embarrassing profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
If you give an audience a chance they will do half your acting for you.
• Hepburn, Katharine
Acting is the perfect idiot's profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
The most minor gifts and not a very high class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.
• Hepburn, Katharine
It's a business you go into because your an egocentric. It's a very embarrassing profession.
• Hepburn, Katharine
If you give an audience a chance they will do half your acting for you.
• Hitchcock, Alfred
I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
• Hitchcock, Alfred
I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
• Howard, Ron
You reach a point where you say you're not going to do juveniles any longer.
• Howard, Ron
You reach a point where you say you're not going to do juveniles any longer.
• Hunter, Holly
I have tried to be as eclectic as I possibly can with my professional life, and so far it's been pretty fun.
• Hunter, Holly
I have tried to be as eclectic as I possibly can with my professional life, and so far it's been pretty fun.
• Huston, John
Talk to them about things they don't know. Try to give them an inferiority complex. If the actress is beautiful, screw her. If she isn't, present her with a valuable painting she will not understand. If they insist on being boring, kick their asses or twist their noses. And that's about all there is to it.
• Huston, John
Talk to them about things they don't know. Try to give them an inferiority complex. If the actress is beautiful, screw her. If she isn't, present her with a valuable painting she will not understand. If they insist on being boring, kick their asses or twist their noses. And that's about all there is to it.
• Huxley, Aldous
Abused as we abuse it at present, dramatic art is in no sense cathartic; it is merely a form of emotional masturbation. It is the rarest thing to find a player who has not had his character affected for the worse by the practice of his profession. Nobody can make a habit of self-exhibition, nobody can exploit his personality for the sake of exercising a kind of hypnotic power over others, and remain untouched by the process.
• Huxley, Aldous
Abused as we abuse it at present, dramatic art is in no sense cathartic; it is merely a form of emotional masturbation. It is the rarest thing to find a player who has not had his character affected for the worse by the practice of his profession. Nobody can make a habit of self-exhibition, nobody can exploit his personality for the sake of exercising a kind of hypnotic power over others, and remain untouched by the process.
• Irons, Jeremy
Actors often behave like children, and so we're taken for children. I want to be grown up.
• Irons, Jeremy
Actors often behave like children, and so we're taken for children. I want to be grown up.
• Irving, Washington
In civilized life, where the happiness and indeed almost the existence of man, depends on the opinion of his fellow men. He is constantly acting a studied part.
• Irving, Washington
In civilized life, where the happiness and indeed almost the existence of man, depends on the opinion of his fellow men. He is constantly acting a studied part.
• Jackson, Glenda
Acting provides the fulfillment of never being fulfilled. You're never as good as you'd like to be. So there's always something to hope for.
• Jackson, Glenda
Acting is not about dressing up. Acting is about stripping bare. The whole essence of learning lines is to forget them so you can make them sound like you thought of them that instant.
• Jackson, Glenda
Acting provides the fulfillment of never being fulfilled. You're never as good as you'd like to be. So there's always something to hope for.
• Jackson, Glenda
Acting is not about dressing up. Acting is about stripping bare. The whole essence of learning lines is to forget them so you can make them sound like you thought of them that instant.
• John, Elton
I want to do a musical movie. Like Evita, but with good music.
• John, Elton
I want to do a musical movie. Like Evita, but with good music.
• Johnson, Alva
An agent is a person who is sore because an actor gets 90% of what they make.
• Johnson, Alva
An agent is a person who is sore because an actor gets 90% of what they make.
• Johnson, Samuel
Players, Sir! I look on them as no better than creatures set upon tables and joint stools to make faces and produce laughter, like dancing dogs.
• Johnson, Samuel
Players, Sir! I look on them as no better than creatures set upon tables and joint stools to make faces and produce laughter, like dancing dogs.
• Kavanagh, Patrick
Actors are loved because they are unoriginal. Actors stick to their script. The unoriginal man is loved by the mediocrity because this kind of artistic expression is something to which the merest five-eighth can climb.
• Kavanagh, Patrick
Actors are loved because they are unoriginal. Actors stick to their script. The unoriginal man is loved by the mediocrity because this kind of artistic expression is something to which the merest five-eighth can climb.
• Kline, Kevin
I think every American actor wants to be a movie star. But I never wanted to do stupid movies, I wanted to do films. I vowed I would never do a commercial, nor would I do a soap opera -- both of which I did as soon as I left the [Acting] Company and was starving.
• Kline, Kevin
I think every American actor wants to be a movie star. But I never wanted to do stupid movies, I wanted to do films. I vowed I would never do a commercial, nor would I do a soap opera -- both of which I did as soon as I left the [Acting] Company and was starving.
• Lansbury, Angela
I just stopped playing bitches on wheels and peoples' mothers. I have only a few more years to kick up my heels!
• Lansbury, Angela
I just stopped playing bitches on wheels and peoples' mothers. I have only a few more years to kick up my heels!
• Lawless, Lucy
I was sitting in the looping studio late one night, and I had this epiphany that they weren't paying me for my acting, for God's sake, but to own me. And from then on, it became clear and an awful lot easier to deal with.
• Lawless, Lucy
I was sitting in the looping studio late one night, and I had this epiphany that they weren't paying me for my acting, for God's sake, but to own me. And from then on, it became clear and an awful lot easier to deal with.
• Leoni, Tea
I don't do T & A very well because I haven't got much of either.
• Leoni, Tea
I don't do T & A very well because I haven't got much of either.
• Lewis, Daniel Day
The thing about performance, even if it's only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities.
• Lewis, Daniel Day
You don't merely give over your creativity to making a film -- you give over your life! In theatre, by contrast, you live these two rather strange lives simultaneously; you have no option but to confront the mould on last night's washing-up.
• Lewis, Daniel Day
The thing about performance, even if it's only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities.
• Lewis, Daniel Day
You don't merely give over your creativity to making a film -- you give over your life! In theatre, by contrast, you live these two rather strange lives simultaneously; you have no option but to confront the mould on last night's washing-up.
• Lewis, Juliette
People say I'm cocky, but am I supposed to sit here and be insecure and not know where my future's going or not realize that moviemaking is the greatest thing to happen to me?
• Lewis, Juliette
People say I'm cocky, but am I supposed to sit here and be insecure and not know where my future's going or not realize that moviemaking is the greatest thing to happen to me?
• Macliammoir, Micheal
We are born at the rise of the curtain and we die with its fall, and every night in the presence of our patrons we write our new creation, and every night it is blotted out forever; and of what use is it to say to audience or to critic, Ah, but you should have seen me last Tuesday?
• Macliammoir, Micheal
We are born at the rise of the curtain and we die with its fall, and every night in the presence of our patrons we write our new creation, and every night it is blotted out forever; and of what use is it to say to audience or to critic, Ah, but you should have seen me last Tuesday?
• Malkovich, John
It's not a field, I think, for people who need to have success every day: if you can't live with a nightly sort of disaster, you should get out. I wouldn't describe myself as lacking in confidence, but I would just say that the ghosts you chase you never catch.
• Malkovich, John
It's not a field, I think, for people who need to have success every day: if you can't live with a nightly sort of disaster, you should get out. I wouldn't describe myself as lacking in confidence, but I would just say that the ghosts you chase you never catch.
• Marceau, Marcel
I have spent more than half a lifetime trying to express the tragic moment.
• Marceau, Marcel
I have spent more than half a lifetime trying to express the tragic moment.
• McDormand, Frances
After Blood Simple, everybody thought I was from Texas. After Mississippi Burning, everybody thought I was from Mississippi and uneducated. After Fargo, everybody's going to think I'm from Minnesota, pregnant, and have blonde hair. I don't think you can ever completely transform yourself on film, but if you do your job well, you can make people believe that you're the character you're trying to be.
• McDormand, Frances
After Blood Simple, everybody thought I was from Texas. After Mississippi Burning, everybody thought I was from Mississippi and uneducated. After Fargo, everybody's going to think I'm from Minnesota, pregnant, and have blonde hair. I don't think you can ever completely transform yourself on film, but if you do your job well, you can make people believe that you're the character you're trying to be.
• Miller, Henry
Actors die so loud.
• Miller, Henry
Actors die so loud.
• Mitchum, Robert
This is not a tough job. You read a script. If you like the part and the money is O.K., you do it. Then you remember your lines. You show up on time. You do what the director tells you to do. When you finish, you rest and then go on to the next part. That's it.
• Mitchum, Robert
This is not a tough job. You read a script. If you like the part and the money is O.K., you do it. Then you remember your lines. You show up on time. You do what the director tells you to do. When you finish, you rest and then go on to the next part. That's it.
• Moore, Mary Tyler
I'm not an actress who can create a character. I play me.
• Moore, Mary Tyler
I'm not an actress who can create a character. I play me.
• Moore, Roger
Left eyebrow raised, right eyebrow raised.
• Moore, Roger
Left eyebrow raised, right eyebrow raised.
• Moreau, Jeanne
Some people are addicts. If they don't act, they don't exist.
• Moreau, Jeanne
Acting deals with very delicate emotions. It is not putting up a mask. Each time an actor acts he does not hide; he exposes himself.
• Moreau, Jeanne
Some people are addicts. If they don't act, they don't exist.
• Moreau, Jeanne
Acting deals with very delicate emotions. It is not putting up a mask. Each time an actor acts he does not hide; he exposes himself.
• Newman, Paul
Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own experience.
• Newman, Paul
Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own experience.
• Olin, Lena
Every time I get a script it's a matter of trying to know what I could do with it. I see colors, imagery. It has to have a smell. It's like falling in love. You can't give a reason why.
• Olin, Lena
Every time I get a script it's a matter of trying to know what I could do with it. I see colors, imagery. It has to have a smell. It's like falling in love. You can't give a reason why.
• Olivier, Sir Lawrence
I have to act to live.
• Pacino, Al
The actor becomes an emotional athlete. The process is painful -- my personal life suffers.
• Pacino, Al
The actor becomes an emotional athlete. The process is painful -- my personal life suffers.
• Paglia, Camille
Elizabeth Taylor is pre-feminist woman. This is the source of her continuing greatness and relevance. She wields the sexual power that feminism cannot explain and has tried to destroy. Through stars like Taylor, we sense the world-disordering impact of legendary women like Delilah, Salome, and Helen of Troy. Feminism has tried to dismiss the femme fatale as a misogynist libel, a hoary clich. But the femme fatale expresses women's ancient and eternal control of the sexual realm. The specter of the femme fatale stalks all men's relations with women.
• Paglia, Camille
Elizabeth Taylor is pre-feminist woman. This is the source of her continuing greatness and relevance. She wields the sexual power that feminism cannot explain and has tried to destroy. Through stars like Taylor, we sense the world-disordering impact of legendary women like Delilah, Salome, and Helen of Troy. Feminism has tried to dismiss the femme fatale as a misogynist libel, a hoary clich. But the femme fatale expresses women's ancient and eternal control of the sexual realm. The specter of the femme fatale stalks all men's relations with women.
• Parker, Dorothy
She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.
• Parker, Dorothy
She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.
• Parker, Sarah Jessica
You can't do four movies and be good to everybody and be flying all night and shooting all day with a different wig and then be going to sing on Broadway without feeling a little tired. You endlessly feel you're letting somebody down.
• Parker, Sarah Jessica
You can't do four movies and be good to everybody and be flying all night and shooting all day with a different wig and then be going to sing on Broadway without feeling a little tired. You endlessly feel you're letting somebody down.
• Petron
All men practice the actor's art.
• Petron
All men practice the actor's art.
• Presley, Elvis
Ah just act the way ah feel.
• Presley, Elvis
Ah just act the way ah feel.
• Price, Vincent
I don't want to read about some of these actresses who are around today. They sound like my niece in Scarsdale. I love my niece in Scarsdale, but I won't buy tickets to see her act.
• Price, Vincent
I don't want to read about some of these actresses who are around today. They sound like my niece in Scarsdale. I love my niece in Scarsdale, but I won't buy tickets to see her act.
• Python, Monty
don't think there's a punch-line scheduled, is there?
• Python, Monty
don't think there's a punch-line scheduled, is there?
• Quinn, Anthony
In Europe an actor is an artist. In Hollywood, if he isn't working, he's a bum.
• Quinn, Anthony
In Europe an actor is an artist. In Hollywood, if he isn't working, he's a bum.
• Reagan, Nancy
I must say that acting was good training for the political life that lay ahead of us.
• Reagan, Nancy
I must say that acting was good training for the political life that lay ahead of us.
• Redford, Robert
A lot of what acting is paying attention.
• Redford, Robert
A lot of what acting is paying attention.
• Reid, Thomas
Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.
• Reid, Thomas
Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.
• Richardson, Miranda
Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.
• Richardson, Miranda
Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.
• Richardson, Miranda
Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.
• Richardson, Miranda
Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.
• Richardson, Miranda
Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.
• Richardson, Miranda
Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.
• Rogers, Ginger
There are no small parts. Only small actors.
• Rogers, Ginger
There are no small parts. Only small actors.
• Rogers, Ginger
There are no small parts. Only small actors.
• Rogers, Ginger
There are no small parts. Only small actors.
• Rogers, Ginger
There are no small parts. Only small actors.
• Rogers, Ginger
There are no small parts. Only small actors.
• Selleck, Tom
I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead. [On his college registration experience]
• Selleck, Tom
I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead. [On his college registration experience]
• Selleck, Tom
I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead. [On his college registration experience]
• Selleck, Tom
I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead. [On his college registration experience]
• Selleck, Tom
I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead. [On his college registration experience]
• Selleck, Tom
I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead. [On his college registration experience]
• Shakespeare, William
Oh! it offends me to the soul to hear a robust periwig-pated fellow, tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.
• Shakespeare, William
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you -- tripping on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as Leif the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
• Shakespeare, William
Oh! it offends me to the soul to hear a robust periwig-pated fellow, tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.
• Shakespeare, William
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you -- tripping on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as Leif the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
• Shakespeare, William
Oh! it offends me to the soul to hear a robust periwig-pated fellow, tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.
• Shakespeare, William
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you -- tripping on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as Leif the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
• Shakespeare, William
Oh! it offends me to the soul to hear a robust periwig-pated fellow, tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.
• Shakespeare, William
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you -- tripping on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as Leif the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
• Shakespeare, William
Oh! it offends me to the soul to hear a robust periwig-pated fellow, tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.
• Shakespeare, William
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you -- tripping on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as Leif the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
• Shakespeare, William
Oh! it offends me to the soul to hear a robust periwig-pated fellow, tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.
• Shakespeare, William
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you -- tripping on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as Leif the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
• Shaw, George Bernard
Why, except as a means of livelihood, a man should desire to act on the stage when he has the whole world to act in, is not clear to me.
• Shaw, George Bernard
Why, except as a means of livelihood, a man should desire to act on the stage when he has the whole world to act in, is not clear to me.
• Shaw, George Bernard
Why, except as a means of livelihood, a man should desire to act on the stage when he has the whole world to act in, is not clear to me.
• Shaw, George Bernard
Why, except as a means of livelihood, a man should desire to act on the stage when he has the whole world to act in, is not clear to me.