Actors Quotes

• The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind.

  Stella Adler

  Inspirational, Motivational, Voice

  Howard Kissel, Stella Adler (2000). “Stella Adler - The Art of Acting: preface by Marlon Brando compiled & edited by Howard Kissel”, p.19, Hal Leonard Corporation

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• In a sense, I think a movie is really a little like a question and when you make it, that's when you get the answer.

  Francis Ford Coppola

  Movie, Thinking, Answers

  "Francis Ford Coppola returns to directing". www.today.com. September 24, 2005.

  17 Copy quote

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• 

  To be an actor you have to be a child.

  Paul Newman

  Children, Acting

  "Paul Newman: A Life in Pictures". Book edited by Yann-Brice Dherbier and Pierre-Henri Verlhac, October 19, 2006.

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• The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

  Charlie Chaplin

  Aquariums, Theatre, Acting

  42 Copy quote

• When [actors] are talking, they are servants of the dramatist. It is what they can show the audience when they are not talking that reveals the fine actor.

  Cedric Hardwicke

  Talking, Acting, Fine

  "Personal Quotes/ Biography". www.imdb.com.

  45 Copy quote

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• One man in his time plays many parts.

  William Shakespeare

  Birthday, Character, Men

  'As You Like It' (1599) act 2, sc. 7, l. 139

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• Ninety per cent of how you learn is watching great people. When you are surrounded by good actors it lifts your performance.

  Natalie Portman

  People, Ninety, Cents

  17 Copy quote

• If you watch the show and the characters don't look at each other while they're talking, the actors probably aren't getting along.

  Victoria Pratt

  Character, Talking, Watches

  7 Copy quote

• Conflict is what creates drama. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.

  Michael Shurtleff

  Drama, Interesting, Acting

  50 Copy quote

• There's nothing more boring than unintelligent actors, because all they have to talk about is themselves and acting. There have to be other things.

  Tim Robbins

  Acting, Boring, Unintelligent

  48 Copy quote

• I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.

  Frank Capra

  Motivational, Mistake, Drama

  39 Copy quote

• God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny.

  Garrison Keillor

  Funny, Life, Encouraging

  "Happy to be Here". Book by Garrison Keillor, 1983.

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• An actor is at his best a kind of unfrocked priest who, for an hour or two, can call on heaven and hell to mesmerize a group of innocents.

  Alec Guinness

  Two, Heaven, Theatre

  54 Copy quote

• An actor is never so great as when he reminds you of an animal - falling like a cat, lying like a dog, moving like a fox.

  Francois Truffaut

  Dog, Falling In Love, Lying

  65 Copy quote

• Competition is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to get along. And they are therefore not first-rate actors. The good actor is the one who competes, willingly, who enjoys competing. An actor must compete, or die...Peacefulness and the avoidance of trouble won't help in his acting. It is just the opposite he must seek.

  Michael Shurtleff

  Opposites, Competition, Healthy

  54 Copy quote

• Actors search for rejection. If they don't get it they reject themselves.

  Charlie Chaplin

  Humorous, Rejection, Acting

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• All an actor has is their blind faith that they are who they say they are today, in any scene.

  Meryl Streep

  Faith, Blind Belief, Acting

  20 Copy quote

• The magic doesn't come from within the director's mind, it comes from within the hearts of the actors.

  James Cameron

  Heart, Magic, Mind

  James Cameron, Brent Dunham (2012). “James Cameron: Interviews”, p.116, Univ. Press of Mississippi

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• An expression of feeling isn't worth anything unless it interferes with what the other actor in the scene wants.

  Michael Shurtleff

  Expression, Feelings, Acting

  27 Copy quote

• Only a great actor finds the difficulties of the actor's art infinite.

  Ellen Terry

  Art, Acting, Infinite

  Dame Ellen Terry (1908). “The Story of My Life: Recollections and Reflections”

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• 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.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Funny, Mean, Men

  40 Copy quote

• Acting is not being emotional, but being able to fully express emotion.

  Kate Reid

  Emotional, Acting, Able

  46 Copy quote

• I've never had a desire to be famous. Lots of actors are actually extremely shy. I have shy areas.

  Jeremy Northam

  Desire, Shy, Areas

  9 Copy quote

• When an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders, it isn't acting. It's following instructions. Anyone with the physical qualifications can do that.

  James Dean

  Inspirational, Motivational, Following Instructions

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• Acting is the perfect idiot's profession.

  Katharine Hepburn

  Perfect, Acting, Idiot

  11 Copy quote