Skip to content

Actor Quote by Alan Bates

“An emotional performance is usually more instinctive to an actor.” quote by Alan Bates — Download Open image

“An emotional performance is usually more instinctive to an actor.”

About This Quote

Source Interview: Discussing acting technique, 1970s

An actor's best work often comes from instinct, not overthinking.

In simple terms: Instinct guides strong performances.

Key Takeaway

Trust your gut on stage.

Themes

acting instinct performance creativity

Mood

reflective inspired

Type

advice philosophical

When to use this quote

theatre rehearsals
live performance
improvisation

Key Concepts

method acting intuition spontaneity

Questions to Reflect On

How do you balance instinct with preparation?
When does instinct hinder a role?

A Different Perspective

Instinct can lead to inconsistency without discipline.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.2 out of 5 (3 ratings)

Actor Emotional Emotional Performance Instinctive Instinctive Actor More Performance Performance Usually Theatre Usually Instinctive

More by Alan Bates

No film should try to follow a trend, and do what film people think the public wants. There's no such thing as knowing what…

Image

Occasionally I do things against my inner voice, but you really should go for the thing that touches you most-even if you don't quite…

Image

I do believe in living out your own time, unless it's absolutely impossible, which it is for some people.

Image

I think that can happen, that two people can love each other and not be able to get on at all.

Image

You can time a part perfectly and play it badly. And some people have very individual offbeat timing, which is their own. It works…

Image

I've never believed much in that holding hands kind of love. I've always thought that love is about two different personalities trying to confront…

Image

I think actors are privileged. Acting feeds you.

Image

I have always tried to work according to what affects me, to a script that I like because it touches me in some way,…

Image

You've got to have steel in you somewhere.

Image

People ask, how do you cope, and all I can say is that you do.

Image

You can't always go by the book, even in comedy.

Image

Explore all 12 Alan Bates quotes

More Actor quotes

I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…

Image

When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…

Image

I once told someone I could act. They totally bought it. I've been getting away with it ever since.

Image

There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as…

Image

I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…

Image

I'm an actor, so I'm never going to feel like I've done enough.

Image

I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…

Image

When I was 13, I auditioned for the theater school, and I was there for four years. In the meantime, I did my first…

Image

If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…

Image

failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.

Lillian Hellman

Image

I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…

Image

Actors don't hate acting. Most people don't hate acting! Whether you're a child mucking around with your friends or a grown up being paid…

Image

Browse all 21,590 Actor quotes