I started being interested in acting when I heard the voices of Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud and Sir Alec Guinness. Ive had the great privilege of working with Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Anthony Hopkins. These are people who inspire the work that I do.
Interpretation
Acting is inspired by the great voices of legendary actors.
In this quote, Kenneth Branagh expresses how the voices and performances of iconic actors like Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, and Sir Alec Guinness sparked his interest in acting. He acknowledges the profound influence that such esteemed professionals have had on his career and artistry, emphasizing the idea that inspiration can come from the greats who precede us and significantly shape our creative endeavors.
In practice
This quote can be shared at an acting workshop to inspire aspiring actors.
Variety is very, very good. Going from medium to medium, if you get the chance to do it, from theater to television to film, which are all distinctly different, keeps me sharp. What works in one doesn't work in the other, and you have to be looking for the truth of the performance, whatever way that medium might demand.
Music and language are a vital element. We, as actors and directors, offer it to people who want to experience it. Sometimes the actual meaning is less important than the words themselves.
As soon as someone I don’t respect tells me I can’t do something, it just makes me want to do it even more.
I think what you're always looking for as artists is to be honest and to continue to be honestly driven by that which you are passionately engaged with. It should need not be forced.
I suppose, at 50, you value things in a different way. So you value connections, you value your friendships, you value your health, and you are much more aware of time passing.
To be willing to sort of die in order to move the reader, somehow. Even now I'm scared about how sappy this'll look in print, saying this.
I think the line is where you're in the studio, you're creating. That belongs to you as an artist. Nothing should taint that. I shouldn't be thinking about what the fans want, I shouldn't be thinking about what the radio wants, what the label wants, what your manager wants, a song for the chicks, a song for the street.
Always be a poet, even in prose.
One of the joys of going to the movies was that it was trashy, and we should never lose that.
In the big picture I write for an audience of people I've never met. By the final draft I'm looking for anything in the prose that's prospectively boring to strangers.
When people say, 'I don't get art' ... that means art is working.
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