Talk:Acting

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The following quotes were moved here from the page because the source has no apparent notability. If he is notable, please create a wp page, a wq page or add evidence of notability here. ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 15:49, 25 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • "To go into acting is like asking for admission to an insane asylum. Anyone may apply, but only the certifiably insane are admitted." ~ Michael Shurtleff
  • "The movie actor, like the sacred king of primitive tribes, is a god in captivity." ~ Alexander Chase, Perspectives
  • "Ive got tricks in my pockets. Ive got things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He shows you illusion in the appearance of truth. I show you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." ~ Anonymous

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Quote: By Josie Brooke to Miss Cameron, from Chapter 8 ('Josie Plays Mermaid') of "Jo's Boys" by Louisa May Alcott.

"When I act I'm perfectly happy. I seem to live, to be in my own world, and each new part is a new friend."

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  • To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.
  • You can sit there and have a universal experience, of fear, of anger, of tears, of love, and I discovered that its the audience, really, that is doing the acting.
  • If there's anything unsettling to the stomach, it's watching actors on television talk about their personal lives.
  • An actor is at most a poet and at least an entertainer.
  • If you're successful, acting is about as soft a job as anybody could ever wish for. But if you unsuccessful it's worse than having a skin disease.


  • Pray to God and say the lines.
    • Bette Davis, 'advice to the actress Celeste Holm. Attrib.
  • I do not regret one professional enemy I have made. Any actor who doesn't dare to make an enemy should get out of the business.
  • Without wonder and insight, acting is just a trade. With it, it becomes creation.
  • It is easier to get an actor to be a cowboy than to get a cowboy to be an actor.
  • If there wasn't something called acting they would probably hospitalize people like me. The giddiness and the joy of life is the moving and grooving, the exploration.
  • You're an actor, are you? Well, all that means is: you are irresponsible, irrational, romantic, and incapable of handling an adult emotion or a universal concept without first reducing it to something personal, material, sensational — and probably sexual!
  • All actors are cattle. Actually, all actors are not cattle, but should be treated as such.
  • When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, But what's my motivation?, I say, 'Your salary.'
  • Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, actors!
  • An actor onstage can no more act upon the order 'Be happy' than she can upon the order 'Do not think of a hippopotamus.'
  • We used to have actresses trying to become stars; now we have stars trying to become actresses.
  • Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.
  • An actress must never lose her ego — without it she has no talent.
  • Every actor in his heart believes everything bad that's printed about him.