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Being an actor means asking people to look at you. I guess I accept that. But it's a profession in which the job is to show another world and other people. You may access it through bits of yourself, and your imagination and experience, but actually, in the end, you're not playing yourself.
Ralph Fiennes
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the duality of an actor's role, balancing self-presentation with the portrayal of diverse characters.

Ralph Fiennes highlights the essence of acting, which involves inviting an audience's gaze while transcending one's own identity to embody various roles. It emphasizes that actors draw upon personal experiences and creativity, yet their ultimate aim is to transport viewers into different worlds, suggesting a deep connection between self and character despite the separation.

Themes

ActingPerformanceIdentityImaginationTheater

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the complexities of performing arts, one might cite this quote to emphasize the transformative nature of acting.

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Success.. is all about being able to extend love to people... not in a big, capital letter sense but in the everyday. Little by little, task by task, gesture by gesture, word by word.
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Quote by Ralph Fiennes | QuoteProject