Bad actors try to cry, and good actors try not to. Bad actors try to laugh, and good actors try not to.
Martin LandauRead
I run the Actor's Studio on the West Coast, and one of the things I say all the time to the people I teach - many of whom are acting teachers - is that an actor needs to make choices that make him present.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Actors should actively make choices that enhance their presence on stage.
In this quote, Martin Landau emphasizes the importance of conscious decision-making for actors to achieve a compelling presence in their performances. He suggests that making deliberate choices can significantly impact how an actor connects with the audience and experiences the character's journey, highlighting the significance of intentionality in the craft of acting.
Themes
ActingChoicesPresencePerformanceTeaching
In practice
Example use cases
In a drama class, a teacher can use this quote to inspire students to make bold choices in their characterizations.
More from Martin Landau
All quotes →I studied with Strasberg, Elia Kazan. They raised the bar. They weren't easy to please, and they made you achieve the best you could do. That's what a teacher does: he infuses you with passion for something.
Martin LandauRead
As a Jew, there's a need to keep that atrocity alive. There were Catholics and gypsies and homosexuals who died in the Holocaust, too. It's amazing that people allowed this slaughter to take place. There's a need to make these films and reiterate it happened.
Martin LandauRead
I love to see lack of clarity in a performance as well as clarity, as well as trust, as well as the kinds of things that human beings go through. I love to see spontaneity and 'inevitability.' How it gets there is going to shock the hell out of me, but it will get there somehow.
Martin LandauRead
People think I'm a very serious actor, which I am. But you know, if you don't have a sense of humor doing what I do, you perish.
Martin LandauRead
Dialogue is what a character's willing to share and reveal to another character, and the 90% they aren't willing to share is what I do for a living.
Martin LandauRead
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