Sanford Meisner Professions : Actor Born : August 31, 1905 Died : February 2, 1997 Browse All Authors Top 36 quotes by Sanford Meisner Act before you think - your instincts are more honest than your thoughts. Sanford Meisner honest acting thinking Life beats down and crushes our souls and theatre reminds us that we have one. At least the type of theatre that I'm interested in; that is, theatre that moves an audience. You have the opportunity to literally impact the lives of people if they work on material that has integrity. But today, most actors simply want to be famous. Well, being an actor was never supposed to be about fame and money. Being an actor is a religious calling because you've been given the ability, the gift to inspire humanity. Think about that on the way to your soap opera audition. Sanford Meisner crush religious life Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Sanford Meisner imaginary acting circumstances If you want to reach every person in the audience, it's not about being bigger, it's about going deeper. Sanford Meisner deeper bigger want Don't be an actor. Be a human being who works off what exists under imaginary circumstances. Sanford Meisner imaginary actors circumstances Your acting will not be good until it is only yours. That's true of music, acting, anything creative. You work until finally nobody is acting like you. Sanford Meisner like-you acting creative Silence has a myriad of meanings. In the theater, silence is an absence of words, but never an absence of meaning. Sanford Meisner theater silence absence The only way to deal with yourself as an actor is to follow the emotional truth of what you have to do under the imaginary circumstances. And as you develop you become confident. You come to believe in what you're doing and trust it because it's out of you. Sanford Meisner theatre emotional believe I'll tell you this: you cannot escape the impact of emotion, whether it's in a big theater or a tiny one. If you have it, it inflates you — correction, 'inflates' is not a good word. If you have it, it infects you and the audience. If you don't have it — don't bother; just say the lines as truthfully as you are capable of doing. You can't fake emotion. It immediately exposes the fact that you ain't got it. Sanford Meisner fake theatre acting An ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words. Sanford Meisner theatre acting pounds The truth of ourselves is the root of our acting. Sanford Meisner theatre acting roots You can't learn to act unless you're criticized. If you tie that criticism to your childhood insecurities you'll have a terrible time. Instead, you must take criticism objectively, pertaining it only to the work being done. Sanford Meisner insecurity childhood ties Being an actor is a religious calling because you've been given the ability, the gift to inspire humanity. Think about that on the way to your soap opera audition. Sanford Meisner religious inspire thinking Acting in a scene is like paddling a canoe from a pebbly beach on to the river, the writer builds the canoe, and the actor provides the river. The river is the actor's thoughts and emotions. Sanford Meisner acting rivers beach That which hinders your task is your task. Sanford Meisner hinder tasks work Courage means willing to risk everything. Sanford Meisner willing risk mean You don't pick up cues, you pick up impulses. Sanford Meisner impulse picks Listen with your gut, not your head. Sanford Meisner guts The greatest piece of acting or music or sculpture or what-have-you always has its roots in the truth of human emotion. Sanford Meisner sculpture acting roots Transfer the point of concentration to some object outside of yourself - another person, a puzzle, a broken plate that you are gluing. Sanford Meisner plates acting broken Similar Authors Ian Mckellen actor Adhir Kalyan actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje actor Bert Lahr actor Alan Arkin actor Alan Alda actor All Authors
