I run the Actor's Studio on the West Coast, and one of the things I say all the time to the people I teach - many of whom are acting teachers - is that an actor needs to make choices that make him present.
Martin LandauRead
Bad actors try to cry, and good actors try not to. Bad actors try to laugh, and good actors try not to.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the distinction between genuine and inauthentic expressions in acting.
Martin Landau's quote highlights the difference between good and bad actors by suggesting that the former possess an authenticity that allows them to convey emotions naturally, while the latter resort to exaggerated or forced displays of feeling. Good actors embody their roles so deeply that their emotions are subtle and real, while bad actors tend to oversell their performances, lacking the nuance that true artistry requires.
Themes
ActingAuthenticityEmotionPerformanceNuance
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the qualities of a good actor during a theater class.
More from Martin Landau
All quotes βI studied with Strasberg, Elia Kazan. They raised the bar. They weren't easy to please, and they made you achieve the best you could do. That's what a teacher does: he infuses you with passion for something.
Martin LandauRead
As a Jew, there's a need to keep that atrocity alive. There were Catholics and gypsies and homosexuals who died in the Holocaust, too. It's amazing that people allowed this slaughter to take place. There's a need to make these films and reiterate it happened.
Martin LandauRead
I love to see lack of clarity in a performance as well as clarity, as well as trust, as well as the kinds of things that human beings go through. I love to see spontaneity and 'inevitability.' How it gets there is going to shock the hell out of me, but it will get there somehow.
Martin LandauRead
People think I'm a very serious actor, which I am. But you know, if you don't have a sense of humor doing what I do, you perish.
Martin LandauRead
Dialogue is what a character's willing to share and reveal to another character, and the 90% they aren't willing to share is what I do for a living.
Martin LandauRead
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