Great Quotes From Actors

I often fill my blog posts with the quotes of dead actors or dead acting experts. I thought today I’d share with you some great quotes from actors. Most of these were gleaned from watching the great series ‘Inside the Actors Studio’. It’s a favourite show that I only ever get to watch on YouTube. If you fancy watching them, take a look at them here.

Don’t necessarily agree with all of these, but they’re things to think about:

“The director’s job is to find out the best way to ‘put’ you into the character.” Paul Newman

On Acting “The odds are, you’re gonna fail.” Alec Baldwin

On Characterisation: “When sometimes what might happen is if you’re in a certain rhythm as an actor, playing a certain part, a character, at the end of the day, it might carry over…” Robert De Niro

“Your role as an actor, obviously in the theatre is, you hold the shape of the drama in your hands.” Edward Norton

“Eventually you have to get to a point where you say ‘fuck it’.” Michael Caine

“It really is about getting you to listen. I would put that very high on the list of things that good actors do. ” Edward Norton

There was a quote here from Ethan Hawke about what animal you’re character is, but it made me start to wonder whether we should listen to actors when they talk about acting. They do it excellently, they win awards, but not entirely sure that they know what they’re talking about. I don’t mean to be disrespectful. This comes from reading a lot of biographies and listening to them being interviewed. Something seems to be missing. If you need to work out what animal your character is, you don’t understand the script.

I’m very aware that all these are guys, I’ll look for some quotes from the many amazing female actors currently working.