KNOW, KNOW, KNOW YOUR QUOTE

Every once and a while I like to Google quotes about acting with the hopes of finding a quote or two which inspires me and perhaps might inspire others. I post these quotes on my Facebook page for two reasons. The first is so I have a permanent record of the quote I can reference every now and then. The second is so other actors can see them and maybe the post will start a dialogue. 

The following is a small sample of some of the quotes you might find if you Google "acting quotes" or "quotes about acting."

*It must be noted most of these quotes were said in a time when the line between 'actor' and 'movie/television star' was much clearer. That line has sadly blurred more and more. There are far too many people who are in movies and on television these days who are not actors. Reality television is not a genre which requires true acting. Those people are not actors. They are sensationalized puppets. 

"Celebrity is death. Celebrity. That's the worst thing that can happen to an actor."

~John Cusack

We have far too many celebrities these days and not enough actors.

"Acting is the perfect idiot's profession."

~Katherine Hepburn

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. 

Ms. Hepburn is certainly a legend but a legend who, the older she got, seemed to want nothing to do with the industry in which she had built her career...her legend. She had certainly earned the right to express her own opinion. I'm just not sure I agree with what she said.

Nobody's perfect, especially me. 

And...can you even be a perfect idiot? Isn't that kind of like jumbo shrimp?

I wonder what Ms. Hepburn was thinking when she said this. Actors are a curious breed that are simultaneously looked down upon and celebrated. 

You have to be smart to be a true actor. You have to be able to look at the world around you and examine it...dissect it...and figure out your place in it. You also have to be able to look at yourself...know yourself...truly know yourself. 

Idiots aren't able to do that. They aren't perceptive. 

The true challenge, in my opinion, for an actor would be to play the perfect idiot. 

Think Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda. His performance as the painfully idiotic Otto earned him an Oscar. Click on the word Otto below to see the best of Kline's work in Wanda.

OTTO

Don't ever, ever call him stupid. 

"A lot of what acting is paying attention."

~Robert Redford

Redford nailed it. It's such a simple analysis but it's so true. 

As an actor you have to see the world around you. You also have to be able to look at the person you are acting with and be able to react. It's about paying attention. It's about listening. 

"The big secret in acting is listening to people."

~Eli Wallach

See? I told you. 

I could probably write for days, copying and pasting lots and lots of quotes. I won't do that. (Everyone sighs a sigh of relief)

I want to end this blog entry with several quotes from one of my favorite actors. 

Michael Caine. 

Caine just says things that all at once make me like and respect him even more. So here, in no particular order of awesomeness, are a few quotes from Mr. Caine:

On choosing roles:

"First of all, I choose the great (roles), and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent."

~Michael Caine

Art is art but eventually you have to pay the bills. Actors would like to think of themselves as starving artists but nobody really likes to skip a meal. It's hard to read a script when the lights have been turned off. 

On choosing roles:

"What I do is I sit in a nice comfortable chair. I read a script they want me to consider.  I read the first page and then I read the last page, and if the part they want me to play is on both pages, then I do the fucking picture."

~Michael Caine

On Jaws 4: The Revenge:

"I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific."

~Michael Caine

I just think that's the best quote ever. It was made as a response to a reporter who was interviewing Caine who was, I have to think, trying to be sensational and embarrass the actor by bringing up that awful, awful shark movie. It's just a great answer not only because it's funny but because it's the truth.

God forbid an actor take a role to actually make some money!

(GASP!)

Of course it is good to have your passion projects as many actors do. When an actor says they're not a doing a particular project for the money, though. Come on! Of course you are! That's why you have an agent. It's why you held out for more cash. What's wrong with saying "I'm a good actor. I'm going to be great in this movie. I should get paid for my work." 

Good on you Michael Caine for saying it. 

Michael Caine. 

Just keeping it reel. 

And I couldn't have said it better.

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