What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.
Martin ShortRead
All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.
Interpretation
Improvisation is about gathering ideas and material for later refinement.
This quote emphasizes that the essence of improvisation lies in the process of generating a wealth of ideas and content, which can then be shaped and polished during the editing phase. It suggests that spontaneity is key, and the initial bursts of creativity lead to more refined and deliberate outcomes.
In practice
This quote could be shared in a workshop on creative improvisation.
What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.
I've always thought one of the tricks of being an actor for a long time is keeping yourself interested once you've figured out how to pay the rent.
I've chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.
I hate to lull the audience into letting them think that something is something. It's always fun to defy expectations.
My mother was the concert master of the symphony. Absurdity and eccentricity were not criticized.
When I'm stuck for a closing to a lyric, I will drag out my last resort: overwhelming illogic.
If I were just curious, it would be very hard to say to someone, I want to come to your house and have you talk to me and tell me the story of your life. I mean people are going to say, You're crazy. Plus they're going to keep mighty guarded. But the camera is a kind of license. A lot of people, they want to be paid that much attention and that's a reasonable kind of attention to be paid.
Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling.
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model.
I've always had great respect for Paddington because he is amusingly English and eccentric. He is a great British institution and my generation grew up with the books and then Michael Horden's animations.
When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.
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