I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability.
Jack NicholsonRead
In other words, I wouldn't like to be an actor if I could only be real. I like to get wild, behaviorally wild, and it's crazy to think of any form where it's just one way.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the value of embracing chaos and complexity in artistic expression.
Jack Nicholson expresses his disdain for a simplistic or purely realistic approach to acting. He appreciates the freedom and excitement that comes with exploring different, often wild, behavioral interpretations in performance, suggesting that true artistry transcends conventional boundaries and encompasses a spectrum of expressions.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the creative process in theater classes.
I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability.
I sort of understood that when I first started: that you shouldn't repeat a success. Very often you're going to, and maybe the first time you do, it works. And you love it. But then you're trapped.
Almost everybody's happy to be a fool for love.
In my last year of school, I was voted Class Optimist and Class Pessimist. Looking back, I realize I was only half right.
I was particularly proud of my performance as the Joker. I considered it a piece of pop art.
My whole career strategy has been to build a base so that I could take the roles I want to play. I'd hate to think that a shorter part might not be available because I was worried about my billing.
Out of my entire annual output of songs, perhaps two, or at the most three, came as a result of inspiration. We can never rely on inspiration. When we most want it, it does not come.
I was a very observant child. Almost anything could become a song to me.
We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.
What makes literature interesting is that it does not survive its translation. The characters in a novel are made out of the sentences. That's what their substance is.
I alter some things, eliminate and try again until I am satisfied. Then begins the mental working out of this material in its breadth, its narrowness, its height and depth.
The fiction writer in me likes gaps in stories because I can jump into that gap and try to suggest something.
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