1.
The person you are is a thousand times more interesting than the best actor you could ever hope to be.
Constantin Stanislavski
You are infinitely more captivating than any fictional character you could ever pretend to be.
2.
The actor must use his imagination to be able to answer all questions (when, where, why, how). Make the make-believer existence more definite.
Constantin Stanislavski
The performer must employ their creativity to be able to address all queries (when, where, why, how). Enhance the imaginary world more concrete.
3.
We are all actors: being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it.
Augusto Boal
4.
Don't be an actor. Be a human being who works off what exists under imaginary circumstances.
Sanford Meisner
Do not feign; be a person who performs based on what already exists in imaginary circumstances.
5.
Anyone can do theater, even actors. And theater can be done everywhere. Even in a theater.
Augusto Boal
'Thespians of all skill levels can participate in the dramatic arts, and it is possible to perform anywhere - even on a stage.'
6.
Of course, if you have thought up to now that an actor relies merely on inspiration you will have to change your mind. Talent without work is nothing more than raw unfinished material.
Constantin Stanislavski
If you have believed until now that an actor simply relies on innate ability, you will need to alter your opinion. Talent unaccompanied by effort is nothing more than crude unrefined material.
7.
Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it.
Constantin Stanislavski
Unless the theatre can elevate you, make you a better individual, you should avoid it.
8.
When an actor is completely absorbed by some profoundly moving objective so that he throws his whole being passionately into its execution, he reaches a state we call inspiration.
Constantin Stanislavski
When an actor is wholly engrossed in a deeply affecting objective to the point where they ardently apply all of themselves towards its realization, they attain a condition we refer to as invigoration.
9.
Actors should arouse a sense of wonder because of their ability to exceed what the spectators can envision ever being able to do.
Jerzy Grotowski
11.
The Theatre of the Oppressed is theatre in this most archaic application of the word. In this usage, all human beings are Actors (they act!) and Spectators (they observe!).
Augusto Boal
12.
The inner life of the [imagination], and not the personal and tiny experiential resources of the actor, should be elaborated on the stage and shown to the audience. This life is rich and revealing for the audience as well as for the actor himself.
Michael Chekhov
13.
Hollywood is still the mecca for good or bad, but it isn't the beginning or end for filmmaking.
Robert Duvall
15.
My cameraman and I devised a method, which we started using from my second film, which applies mainly to day scenes shot in the studio, where we used bounced light instead of direct light. We agreed with this thing of four or five shadows following the actors is dreadful.
Satyajit Ray
16.
The thing about film-making is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own cheques, be responsible.
Tom Cruise
17.
Well, I’ve been in several films including documentaries, but the big blockbuster, I was hired as advisor to the actors, I was trying to make Jesuits out of them.
Daniel Berrigan
18.
There's editing, and scripts to read and edit, and casting, and all the elements of production that just sort of take up the normal downtime that you would have as an actor. So there's not a lot of that for me.
Richard Dean Anderson
19.
I think I'm good at amplifying an actor's strengths, and minimizing their weaknesses. And they all have strengths and weaknesses.
Steven Soderbergh
21.
A magician is only an actor - an actor pretending to be a magician.
Harry Houdini
22.
I'm no actor and I never have been. What people see on the screen is me.
Clark Gable
24.
I wanted to be an actor. Maybe a comic actor, but an actor. That's what got me into acting was putting on an act, because in life, I wasn't funny and I felt on stage or in the movies, I could do whatever I wanted to. I was free.
Gene Wilder
25.
Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it.
Ram Dass
26.
I couldn't be a cameraman or a designer or an actor - I have to be a director because I learned how to do that from my dad.
Joe Wright
27.
Eventually, in '84, we made a film for a little over a million dollars - with American actors that was shot in English - that was shown in Finland A little action film called Born American.
Renny Harlin
28.
I want to become a superstar, but for that, I first have to be a super actor.
Ranbir Kapoor
29.
All human beings are Actors (they act!) and Spectators (they observe!).
Augusto Boal
30.
Being a good actor isn't easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I'm done.
James Dean
31.
I have always been a Malibu Man, like all actors.
Nick Mancuso
32.
Before I was an actor I was a break dancer, one of those street performers you see. I guess my introduction into the professional world of performing was a stint as back up dancer for Lionel Richie and I performed at the closing ceremony at the '84 Olympics.
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
33.
In nighttime series, the actor gets billing up front on every episode.
Michael Zaslow
34.
Only a madman or an actor would want to be President of the United States.
Mick Jagger
36.
You get the information, and it's not your job to judge it or not judge it. You adapt, and you do it. That's what we do as actors. We're just as surprised as the viewers, sometimes.
Holland Roden
38.
I'm only wanted by directors for the image I give off, and it makes me angry. I always wanted to be an actor and not a beauty pageant winner.
Jude Law
39.
Christina Ricci is amazing, the most professional actor I think I've ever met. You can be chatting with her and when they call action, she's right there.
Lisa Kudrow
40.
I'm an actor... I do a job and I go home. Why are you interested in me? You don't ask a truck driver about his job.
James Gandolfini
41.
We exponents of horror do much better than those Method actors. We make the unbelievable believable. More often than not, they make the believable unbelievable.
Vincent Price
42.
I think any actor worth their salt wants to show as much versatility as they possibly can.
Daniel Radcliffe
43.
We can compare classical chess and rapid chess with theatre and cinema - some actors don't like the latter and prefer to work in the theatre.
Boris Spassky
45.
When you do an animated movie - at least the ones that I've been a part of - you never see any of the other actors. It's all done separately with headphones in a voice booth.
Steve Carell
46.
You grow up in a Sicilian household, becoming an actor is not a big leap.
Vincent Schiavelli
47.
The big-budget blockbuster is becoming one of the most dependable forms of filmmaking.
Peter Jackson
48.
Every animator is really an actor performing in slow motion, living the character a drawing at a time.
John Lasseter
49.
Those who perceive in themselves... the artistic vocation as poet, writer, sculptor, painter, musician, and actor feel at the same time an obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it to service of their neighbour and the humanity as a whole.
Pope John Paul II
50.
By instinct I'm an adventurer; by choice I'd like to be a writer; by pure, unadulterated luck, I'm an actor.
Errol Flynn