Acting is different from stand-up. It gives you this ability to enter into another character, to create another person.
Interpretation
Acting allows individuals to embody different characters and explore diverse identities.
In this quote, Robin Williams highlights the fundamental distinction between acting and stand-up comedy, emphasizing that acting provides the unique opportunity to immerse oneself in various personas. It encourages creativity and exploration of different facets of human experience, unlike stand-up which typically revolves around the comedian's personal perspective and point of view.
In practice
During a drama workshop, I quoted Robin Williams to emphasize the transformative power of acting.
It's that idea that you can have one drink - and no you can't. Within a week I was drinking heavily. It was so quick that even I was like, 'Wow.' Because you have that initial warm feeling going, 'Oh, I remember this'. And your body does, too. And your body goes, 'Yeah, so do I'. Then the demon voice comes, 'Yeah, so do I. You know what would be great? You know we bought a little bottle before? A full bottle would be wonderful'.
I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.
Sometimes over things that I did, movies that didn't turn out very well - you go, 'Why did you do that?' But in the end, I can't regret them because I met amazing people. There was always something that was worth it.
I've never been asked to appear on 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!,' so I guess I mustn't be on the professional skids just yet.
The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'
I write on big yellow legal pads - ideas in outline form when I'm doing stand-up and stuff. It's vivid that way. I can't type it into an iPad - I think that would put a filter into the process.
You can't improvise without a skeletal structure; you can't just go in and start talking. This is a very misunderstood craft because no one else makes movies like this.
Poetry is a life-cherishing force.
And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it.
Sometimes I wish that just solving the plot problems was enough. And then elves would go and do all the actual work moving the words around.
Originality is... a by-product of sincerity.
A good solo is like a book. It will start out in a phrase, it will go on in paragraphs, and then it will have a great ending.
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