It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo.
Interpretation
Stories are essential to human experience, and great storytellers elevate them.
This quote emphasizes the intrinsic human desire to hear stories and highlights the importance of the storyteller in conveying those narratives effectively. Alan Rickman expresses gratitude towards Jo, possibly indicating that she has played the role of a great storyteller in his life.
In practice
During a workshop on narrative techniques, the instructor quoted Alan Rickman to inspire budding writers.
Film has to be reflecting the world that we live in, and that's all you want to be a part of. Actors inhabit the same planet as everyone else. It's a weird thing that happens when you're an actor because people hold you up because you somehow embody in parts groups of people or people's hopes or something.
You can act truthfully or you can lie. You can reveal things about yourself or you can hide. Therefore, the audience recognizes something about themselves or they don't -- You hope they don't leave the theatre thinking that was nice...now where's the cab?'
I'm a lot less serious than people think, it's probably because the way my face is put together.
Those of you who are not aware of my brilliant career as a stand up comic, I'm not aware of it either so we might well wonder what we're doing here.
Acting is mostly about listening. If you just focus in on what the other person is saying, acting takes care of itself to quite a large extent.
When I am asked about influences, I always say I bow down to Fred Astaire, because when you look at him dancing you never look at his extremities, do you? You look at his centre. What you never see is the hours of work that went into the routines, you just see the breathtaking spirit and freedom.
I can explain all the poems that were ever invented - and a good many that haven't been invented just yet.
Prince or commoner, tenor or bass, Painter or plumber or never-do-well, Do me a favor and shut your face - Poets alone should kiss and tell.
I really had no program or any established plan. I didn't even ask myself if I should sell my paintings or not.
Black artists are encouraged to explore their identity but are then pigeonholed according to their ethnicity. We may have seen the decline of old racism, but we are witnessing a new kind of racialising.
With this mistake I deprived myself of the possibility to make a contribution to the treasury of chess art.
I can talk endlessly about characters, or why someone did this or that, and what that dynamic and interaction is. I really love it, and I think that actors really respond positively to the fact that I like to talk about that stuff, because I'm not sure that all directors do.
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