In the captivating realm of acting, guidance from seasoned luminaries offers a beacon for both aspiring and experienced actors. This collection of insightful quotes, ranging from Craig MacDonald’s instinctive approach to Meryl Streep’s profound honesty, provides more than wisdom—it charts a course through the challenges and triumphs in an actor’s journey. Embracing vulnerability, valuing personal experiences, and mastering the art of performance, these words from the greats are not just advice but key stepping stones towards artistic fulfillment and self-discovery in the world of acting.
20 Great Quotes:
- “The best acting is instinctive. It’s not intellectual, it’s not mechanical, it’s instinctive.” – Craig MacDonald
- “Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” – Sanford Meisner
- “The whole essence of good drawing – and of good thinking, perhaps – is to work a subject down to the simplest form possible and still have it believable for what it is meant to be.” – Chuck Jones
- “An actor must never be afraid to make a fool of himself.” – Harvey Cocks
- “Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.” – Meryl Streep
- “Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” – George Burns
- “Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you’re playing through your own experience – so we’re all different.” – Ian McKellen
- “The more personal, the more universal.” – Gary Ballinger
- “To grasp the full significance of life is the actor’s duty; to interpret it his problem; and to express it his dedication.” – James Dean
- “Acting is not about being famous, it’s about exploring the human soul.” – Annette Bening
- “Acting is really about having the courage to fail in front of people.” – Adam Driver
- “Great acting is not about showing off, it’s about revealing truths.” – Viola Davis
- “The art of acting is not to act. Once you show them more, what you show them, in fact is bad acting.” – Anthony Hopkins
- “Your interpretation of a role – that’s poetry, not acting. It’s what you bring to the script, not the script itself.” – Robert De Niro
- “In acting, you’re always asking yourself personal questions. It’s just at work. And there are some lines that must be tread carefully.” – Christian Bale
- “An actor is at most a poet and at least an entertainer.” – Marlon Brando
- “Acting is magical. Change your look and your attitude, and you can be anyone.” – Alicia Witt
- “I think the most liberating thing I did early on was to free myself from any concern with my looks as they pertained to my work.” – Meryl Streep
- “In the end, it can’t look like acting.” – Morgan Freeman
- “To survive as an actor, you have to have a tough skin, a relentless drive, and a willingness to take risks.” – Nicole Kidman
