Each character I play has different dimensions. I'm not interested in words that pull them together.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the complexity and individuality of characters played by an actor, highlighting the richness of diverse roles.
In this quote, Alan Rickman reflects on the nature of acting and character portrayal. He suggests that each role he plays possesses unique attributes and layers, and he is not concerned with trying to simplify or unify these characters through language. Instead, he embraces the multifaceted nature of each character, which ultimately enriches the storytelling experience.
In practice
This quote can be shared during an acting workshop to inspire participants to explore the depth of their characters.
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 am trying to counter the fixity of architectures, their stolidity, with elements that give an ineffable immaterial quality.
Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home.
There's so much chaos in life, I think I make music to make things feel calm and sane, to define something, to bring some meaning into it - it's a real peaceful thing to me.
My mom was an orphan, and there was never anybody to tell her what she could or couldn't do. At the core, she's probably an artist - an artist and a feminist.
I'm lucky enough to be able to make films and so I don't need a psychiatrist. I can sort out my fears and all those things with my work. That's an enormous privilege. That's the privilege of all artists, to be able to sort out their unhappiness and their neuroses in order to create something.
The symbol of all art is the Prism. The goal is unrealism. The method is destructive. To break up the white light of objective realism, into the secret glories which it contains.
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