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Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.
Bette Davis
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the importance of larger-than-life portrayal in acting and storytelling.

Bette Davis suggests that both performances in acting and the narratives presented in scripts should transcend ordinary experiences, showcasing the grandeur and intensity of life. This larger-than-life approach allows artists to engage and inspire audiences by elevating storytelling to a dramatic and compelling level.

Themes

ActingDramaPerformanceStorytellingArt

In practice

Example use cases

A theater director might use this quote to motivate actors before a performance.

More from Bette Davis

I am doomed to an eternity of compulsive work. No set goal achieved satisfies. Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless.
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I have been uncompromising, peppery, intractable, monomaniacal, tactless, volatile, and oftentimes disagreeable... I suppose I'm larger than life.
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Today everyone is a star - they're all billed as 'starring' or 'also starring'. In my day, we earned that recognition.
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Once the love bug wears off, as it inevitably does, you are shocked to discover that you really didn't know the object of your affections at all. We know this to be so, even as we repeat the same mistake over and over and over.
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If everybody likes you, you're pretty dull.
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You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.
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