Quotes by Michael Shurtleff - Page 1

Consistency is the death of good acting.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Consistency
Good Acting
Copy Quote
The life of an actor is a bit easier to take if you admit you're bonkers.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Actors
Bits
Easier
Copy Quote
Creating relationship is the heart of acting. It is basic. It is essential.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Creating
Heart
Copy Quote
The first step to a better audition is to give up character and use yourself.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Character
Giving Up
Copy Quote
Every scene is a love scene. The actor should ask the question: 'Where is the love?'
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Actors
Scene
Should
Copy Quote
The actor needs to find out what the basic fight is in every character in every scene.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Character
Fighting
Needs
Copy Quote
If we lived for reality, we'd be dead, every last one of us. Only dreams keep us going.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Dream
Acting
Reality
Copy Quote
That's why there's so little romance in our world now: everyone thinks romance is weak.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Our World
Romance
Thinking
Copy Quote
Humor is an attitude, a survivor’s way of looking at life. It’s not about telling jokes.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Attitude
Survivor
Way
Copy Quote
Everyone thinks romance is weak. Yet romance is everyone's secret dream-it's why we're alive.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Dream
Romance
Thinking
Copy Quote
Conflict is what creates drama. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Drama
Interesting
Copy Quote
Whatever you decide is your motivation in the scene, the opposite of that is also true and should be in it.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Motivation
Opposites
Copy Quote
An expression of feeling isn't worth anything unless it interferes with what the other actor in the scene wants.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Expression
Feelings
Copy Quote
Every scene you will ever act begins in the middle, and it is up to you, the actor, to provide what comes before.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Actors
Up To You
Copy Quote
The moral: Don't settle for anything less than the biggest dream for your future Fight to make the dream come true.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Dream
Fighting
Moral
Copy Quote
Most actors make themselves unhappy by searching for their sanity, by insisting on their normalcy; it's a grave mistake.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Mistake
Normalcy
Unhappy
Copy Quote
Take nothing for granted. Make an emotional discovery as often as you can find one in every scene. Ask yourself: What is new?
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Discovery
Emotional
Copy Quote
There's only one reason why a character drinks: to seek confrontation. To fight for what they want in ways normally denied them.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Character
Fighting
Copy Quote
To go into acting is like asking for admission to an insane asylum. Anyone may apply, but only the certifiably insane are admitted.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Funny
Humorous
Insane
Theatre
Copy Quote
Acting in theatre or television or screen is only for the irrecoverably diseased, those so smitten with the need that there is no choice.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Choices
Theatre
Copy Quote
Humor [in a scene] is not jokes. It is that attitude toward being alive without which you would long ago have jumped off the 59th Street Bridge.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Attitude
Bridges
Long Ago
Copy Quote
Competition [in a scene] is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to get along. And they are therefore not first-rate actors.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Competition
Healthy
Copy Quote
An actor must make his needs (goals, wants, objectives) so strong that he is willing to interfere with the other actor in order to get what he needs. Interfering means getting in their way so that what you want is stronger than what they want.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Mean
Order
Strong
Copy Quote
We don't live for realities, but for the fantasies, the dreams of what might be. If we lived for reality, we'd be dead, every last one of us. Only dreams keep us going...When you are acting, don't settle for anything less than the biggest dream for your character's future.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Dream
Character
Reality
Copy Quote
Actors, who should pride themselves on their singularity, are forever trying to be someone else. It isn’t necessary for you, the actor, to like yourself— self-love isn’t easy to come by for most of us— but you must learn to trust who you are. There is no one else like you.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Forever
Pride
Self
Copy Quote
Listening is not merely hearing, it is receiving the message that is being sent to you. Listening is reacting. Listening is being affected by what you hear. Listening is letting it land before you react. Listening is letting your reaction make a difference. Listening is active.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Acting
Hearing
Listening
Copy Quote
An actor is looking for conflict. Conflict is what creates drama. We are taught to avoid trouble [so] actors don't realize they must go looking for it. Plays are written about...the extraordinary, the unusual, the climaxes. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Drama
Interesting
Play
Copy Quote
No matter how much we know about the other person, there is always something going on in that other heart and that other head that we don't know but can only ponder. And no matter how we explain ourselves to someone else, no matter how open we are, there is always still something inexplicable, something hidden and unknown in us, too.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Heart
Inexplicable
Matter
Copy Quote
Competition is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to get along. And they are therefore not first-rate actors. The good actor is the one who competes, willingly, who enjoys competing. An actor must compete, or die...Peacefulness and the avoidance of trouble won't help in his acting. It is just the opposite he must seek.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Competition
Healthy
Opposites
Copy Quote
Often actors ask me if I think they should go on trying to be an actor. I have the same answer for everyone who asks: If you have a choice and could reasonably be happy doing something else, by all means go at once and do something else. Acting or writing or directing in the theatre or television or screen is only for the irrecoverably diseased, those who are so smitten with the need that there is no choice.
Michael Shurtleff / Actor
Mean
Thinking
Writing
Copy Quote

Related Actor Authors

Will Rogers
Actor
Tuesday, Nov 04, 1879
Thursday, Aug 15, 1935
Robin Williams
Actor
Saturday, Jul 21, 1951
Monday, Aug 11, 2014
Zion Lee
Actor
Zero Mostel
Actor
Sunday, Feb 28, 1915
Thursday, Sep 08, 1977
Zak Orth
Actor
Thursday, Oct 15, 1970
Zachery Ty Bryan
Actor
Friday, Oct 09, 1981
Zachary Scott
Actor
Saturday, Feb 21, 1914
Sunday, Oct 03, 1965
Zachary Quinto
Actor
Thursday, Jun 02, 1977
Zachary Levi
Actor
Monday, Sep 29, 1980
Zachary Knighton
Actor
Wednesday, Oct 25, 1978
Zach Woods
Actor
Tuesday, Sep 25, 1984
Zach Gilford
Actor
Thursday, Jan 14, 1982
Zach Braff
Actor
Sunday, Apr 06, 1975
Zac Efron
Actor
Sunday, Oct 18, 1987
Yves Montand
Actor
Thursday, Oct 13, 1921
Saturday, Nov 09, 1991

View All Actor Quotes

Top Authors

Groucho Marx
Comedian
Thursday, Oct 02, 1890
Friday, Aug 19, 1977
Saint Augustine
Saint
Saturday, Nov 13, 0354
Wednesday, Aug 28, 0430
Aldous Huxley
Writer
Thursday, Jul 26, 1894
Friday, Nov 22, 1963
Stephen Hawking
Physicist
Thursday, Jan 08, 1942
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Philosopher
H. L. Mencken
Journalist
Sunday, Sep 12, 1880
Sunday, Jan 29, 1956
Yogi Berra
Baseball Manager
Tuesday, May 12, 1925
Tuesday, Sep 22, 2015
Muhammad Ali
Professional Boxer
Saturday, Jan 17, 1942
Friday, Jun 03, 2016
Francis Of Assisi
Saint
Thursday, Jun 24, 1182
Saturday, Oct 03, 1226
Martin Luther
Monk
Saturday, Nov 10, 1483
Monday, Feb 18, 1546
Mae West
Actress
Thursday, Aug 17, 1893
Saturday, Nov 22, 1980
John C. Maxwell
Author
Thursday, Feb 20, 1947
Kanye West
Songwriter
Wednesday, Jun 08, 1977
Thursday, Jun 04, 2015
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essayist
Wednesday, May 25, 1803
Thursday, Apr 27, 1882
Thomas Aquinas
Priest
Tuesday, Jan 28, 1225
Wednesday, Mar 07, 1274

View All Authors

Michael Shurtleff Quotes - Page 1

App & Tools

Related Actor Authors

Popular Topic Tags

Top Authors

Share This Page

Stay Connected

App & Tools

Related Actor Authors

Popular Topic Tags

Top Authors

Share This Page