If you want to reach every person in the audience, it's not about being bigger, it's about going deeper.
Sanford MeisnerRead
You can't learn to act unless you're criticized. If you tie that criticism to your childhood insecurities you'll have a terrible time. Instead, you must take criticism objectively, pertaining it only to the work being done.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Criticism is a vital part of learning and improvement, but it should be viewed objectively without personal baggage.
Sanford Meisner emphasizes the importance of constructive criticism in the learning process, especially in the context of acting. He warns against allowing personal insecurities to cloud one's ability to accept feedback, suggesting that criticism should be directed at the work itself rather than being taken personally. This perspective encourages individuals to view critiques as opportunities for growth rather than as threats to their self-esteem.
Themes
CriticismLearningObjectivityGrowthSelf-Improvement
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on acting, this quote can be used to encourage participants to embrace feedback as a valuable resource for growth.
More from Sanford Meisner
All quotes →Your acting will not be good until it is only yours. That's true of music, acting, anything creative. You work until finally nobody is acting like you.
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Being an actor is a religious calling because you've been given the ability, the gift to inspire humanity. Think about that on the way to your soap opera audition.
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Acting is the ability to live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances
Sanford MeisnerRead
The only way to deal with yourself as an actor is to follow the emotional truth of what you have to do under the imaginary circumstances. And as you develop you become confident. You come to believe in what you're doing and trust it because it's out of you.
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