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Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different.
Ian Mckellen
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Acting is about personal expression and individuality in portraying characters.

In this quote, Ian McKellen emphasizes that acting is deeply personal, requiring actors to draw from their own life experiences and unique personalities. He highlights that each actor brings their own perspective to the characters they portray, resulting in a diverse manifestation of roles on screen or stage.

Themes

ActingPersonalityExpressionIndividualityCharacter

In practice

Example use cases

In a workshop on acting techniques, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of personal interpretation.

More from Ian Mckellen

It's only fair that stable gay relationships of long standing should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I know the image of gay marriage is to some people horrific and ludicrous.
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I don't make any distinction between a popular TV series or blockbuster film and doing Shakespeare. They're different, but as long as the material is good and the intention is honourable, it's all the same to me.
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There are deaths in public places on the grounds that the victim is gay.
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What's nice for me, having identified myself for years as being rather shy, is now, wherever I am, in public, there tends to be a friendly face who's pleased to see me, and I like that.
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