--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The function of the actor is to make the…" description: "\"The function of the actor is to make the audience imagine for the moment that real things are happening to real people.\" — George Bernard Shaw" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/george-bernard-shaw-68_acting_the-function-of-the-actor-is-to-make-the_2251023.png" --- # The function of the actor is to make the audience imagine… ![“The function of the actor is to make the audience imagine for the moment that real things are happening to real people.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/george-bernard-shaw-68_acting_the-function-of-the-actor-is-to-make-the_2251023.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/george-bernard-shaw-68_acting_the-function-of-the-actor-is-to-make-the_2251023.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/george-bernard-shaw-68_acting_the-function-of-the-actor-is-to-make-the_2251023.png) > “The function of the actor is to make the audience imagine for the moment that real things are happening to real people.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Actors create a temporary reality, letting viewers feel real emotions for fictional events. **In simple terms:** Actors make audiences feel real events. Key Takeaway Use imagination to convey truth. Themes theatre imagination empathy Mood thoughtful inspirational Type artistic educational When to use this quote - stage productions - film acting - live storytelling - educational workshops Key Concepts performance suspension of disbelief Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination shape perception? - What responsibilities do actors have to truth? A Different Perspective Audience may forget the fictional nature, reducing impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Actor Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor-make/) [Actors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actors/) [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Audience Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience-imagine-1739670/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Function Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function-actor-5141647/) [Happenings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happenings/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-people/) [Real things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-things/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Things Are Happening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-are-happening/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [My dream is to produce a generation of actors who realise what the function of an actor in a movie is supposed to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naseeruddin-shah/my-dream-is-to-produce-a-generation-of-actors-who-realise-what-the/) [Naseeruddin Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naseeruddin-shah/) > [You think you have some stable talent which will show no matter what you're writing, and if it doesn't seem to be getting across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/you-think-you-have-some-stable-talent-which-will-show-no-matter-what/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Ultimately, theatre takes place in the minds of the audience: they all imagine the same thing at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mcburney/ultimately-theatre-takes-place-in-the-minds-of-the-audience-they-all/) [Simon McBurney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mcburney/) > [When I'm talking to a large audience, I imagine that I'm talking to a single person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-barber/when-i-m-talking-to-a-large-audience-i-imagine-that-i-m-talking-to-a/) [Red Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-barber/) > [I feel I have the potential to reach an audience beyond anything I can imagine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/i-feel-i-have-the-potential-to-reach-an-audience-beyond-anything-i/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [Anybody who sits down to write, and they think 'thriller,' maybe shouldn't be thinking that way. 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You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [A child hasn't a grown-up person's appetite for affection. A little of it goes a long way with them; and they like a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-child-hasn-t-a-grown-up-person-s-appetite-for-affection-a-little-of/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [It's up to the actor to make sure they don't get typecast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-cranston/it-s-up-to-the-actor-to-make-sure-they-don-t-get-typecast/) [Bryan Cranston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-cranston/) > [I was determined to be an actor and make a name in the industry, and hence, I did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawazuddin-siddiqui/i-was-determined-to-be-an-actor-and-make-a-name-in-the-industry-and/) [Nawazuddin Siddiqui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawazuddin-siddiqui/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Acting 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [Acting is a grind, just like music is a grind. Sometimes it takes longer than what you can give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/acting-is-a-grind-just-like-music-is-a-grind-sometimes-it-takes/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [It was only when I started making short films in college and I was looking for girls to play the me-ish parts that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/it-was-only-when-i-started-making-short-films-in-college-and-i-was/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [Actors don't hate acting. Most people don't hate acting! 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