An expression of feeling isn't worth anything unless it interferes with what the other actor in the scene wants. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share Image
Often actors ask me if I think they should go on trying to be an actor. I have the same answer for everyone who… — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
That's why there's so little romance in our world now: everyone thinks romance is weak. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
There's only one reason why a character drinks: to seek confrontation. To fight for what they want in ways normally denied them. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Conflict is what creates drama. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
If we lived for reality, we'd be dead, every last one of us. Only dreams keep us going. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
We don't live for realities, but for the fantasies, the dreams of what might be. If we lived for reality, we'd be dead, every… — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Everyone thinks romance is weak. Yet romance is everyone's secret dream-it's why we're alive. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Humor [in a scene] is not jokes. It is that attitude toward being alive without which you would long ago have jumped off the… — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Every scene is a love scene. The actor should ask the question: 'Where is the love?' — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Every scene you will ever act begins in the middle, and it is up to you, the actor, to provide what comes before. — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
An actor must make his needs (goals, wants, objectives) so strong that he is willing to interfere with the other actor in order to… — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Competition [in a scene] is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to… — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
Competition is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to get along. And… — Michael Shurtleff Copy Share
