Acting quotes
3.9K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside acting — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"A man's behaviour may be quite harmless and even beneficial, when he ismorally behaving like a scoundrel. And he may do great harm when he is morally acting on the highest principles."
"I do not want actors and actresses to understand my plays. That is not necessary. If they will only pronounce the correct sounds I can guarantee the results."
"Film acting is one of the only industries where you're criticized for working hard. In any other industry, it's considered a quality and something to behold."
"Acting is always at the core of my life, but I'm also excited about producing. I'm excited about directing, and I have a life in the filmmaking world, and so I want to explore all aspects of it, not just the acting, but acting is the root."
"Acting is like any other art form, in that you have the option to go very big or go very small."
"For me, acting was a way of taking destructive energy and doing something productive with it, and in that way it was quite a life saver."
"I always wanted to find a way to apply my acting in a big mad monster movie where I was transforming into this scary entity."
"I got into film acting because I wanted to be James Dean. We lost him at a very young age - he was only 24 - but I’m 51 going on 52, so there's only so many times you can act like James Dean. I had to find new ways of expressing myself that kept me fascinated with film performance."
"Yul Brynner's performance in "The King and I," . . . can no longer be regarded as a feat of acting or even endurance. After 30-odd . . . Mr Brynner is, quite simply, The King."
"I finally made up my mind I wanted to be an actress and I was not going to let my lack of confidence ruin my chances."
"Acting became more than a profession to me. It became a sort of religion."
"I'm trying to find myself as a person, sometimes that's not easy to do. Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do. The best way for me to find myself as a person is to prove to myself that I am an actress."
"Of the nude pictures: Sure I posed. I needed the money."
"I've always felt toward the slightest scene, even if all I had to do in a scene was just to come in and say, 'Hi,' that the people ought to get their money's worth and that this is an obligation of mine, to give them the best you can get from me."
"I enjoy acting when you really hit it right. And I guess I've always had too much fantasy to be only a housewife."
"When Levin thought what he was and what he was living for, he could find no answer to the questions and was reduced to despair; but when he left off questioning himself about it, it seemed as though he knew both what he was and what he was living for, acting and living resolutely and without hesitation."
"From thinking proceeds speaking; thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous!"
"I didn't fall in love with acting until I did a few films. Now, I couldn't live without it."
"It's always very exciting to collaborate and work with people who are masters at what they do. When I decide to learn new things, I always choose to learn from the best, so I can become one of them. It is the same with acting. When you are around other talented people, it can only bring you up."
"I believe life experiences are what an actor needs to relate to the character roles they take on, and to say the least, I've had many experiences leading up to this moment. Not only have my experiences become a tremendous asset in my acting, but also they helped me discover who I am and who I want to be."
