Actors, Acting

He used this great, sad, motionless face to suggest various related things: a one-track mind near the tracks end of pure insanity; mulish imperturbability under the wildest of circumstances; how dead a human being can get and still be alive… – James Agee

When he ran from a cop his transitions from accelerating walk to easy jog trot to brisk canter to headlong gallop to flogged-piston sprint…were as distinct and as soberly in order as an automatic gearshift. – James Agee

We become actors without realizing it, and actors without wanting to. – Henri Frederic Amiel

The actors today really need the whip hand. Theyre so lazy. They havent 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. – W. H. Auden

I dont get acting jobs because of my looks. – Alec Baldwin

Acting is a matter of giving away secrets. – Ellen Barkin

The face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn an Event. – Roland Barthes

A woman in agony of spirit might turn her head just so; a man in deep humiliation probably would wring his hands in such a way. From straws like these, drawn from completely different sources, the fabric of a character may be built. – Eleanor Robson Belmont

An actor rides in a bus or railroad train; he sees a movement and applies it to a new role. The whole garment in which the actor hides himself is made of small externals of observation fitted to his conception of a role. – Eleanor Robson Belmont

It is not whether you really cry. Its whether the audience thinks you are crying. – Ingrid Bergman

You must have this charm to reach the pinnacle. It is made of everything and of nothing, the striving will, the look, the walk, the proportions of the body, the sound of the voice, the ease of the gestures. It is not at all necessary to be handsome or to be pretty; all that is needful is charm. – Sarah Bernhardt

The thing about anything in life is you have to get ready for it. Study, learn and in terms of acting, theres a lot to learn. The bigger culture you have in life, the better actor youll be. Youll have more to pull on. – Jacqueline Bisset

To grasp the full significance of life is the actors duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication. – Marlon Brando

Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. Its a bums life. The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis. – Marlon Brando

A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls. – Bertolt Brecht

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. – Robert Bresson

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, theres the same surge of adrenaline you get just before the camera rolls. – Steve Buscemi

I am acquainted with no immaterial sensuality so delightful as good acting. – Lord (George Gordon) Byron

First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they dont come, I choose the ones that pay the rent. – Michael Caine

Such is an actors 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 MacHales Navy – Bruce Campbell