--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As an actor, if you decide that someone…" description: "\"As an actor, if you decide that someone is bad... you can't play bad, because even the worst person doesn't think what they're doing is bad.\" — Jaime M..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png" --- # As an actor, if you decide that someone is bad... you… ![“As an actor, if you decide that someone is bad... you can't play bad, because even the worst person doesn't think what they're doing is bad.” quote by Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png) > “As an actor, if you decide that someone is bad... you can't play bad, because even the worst person doesn't think what they're doing is bad.” [Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An actor struggles with playing a villain because they believe the character is inherently bad. **In simple terms:** Playing bad feels wrong. Key Takeaway Embrace role complexity. Themes acting morality character empathy ethics Mood introspective challenging Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - theatre workshops - character analysis - ethical debates Key Concepts role immersion moral ambiguity Questions to Reflect On - How to separate actor from character? - Can villains be morally complex? A Different Perspective Moral judgments can limit performance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) ## Related quotes > [I suppose it's whether you want to be a famous person, or whether you want to be an actor. 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I know my abilities, and I know I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-tell-me-to-relax-after-i-made-a-bad-play-you-ll-get-yelled-at/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Momentum can turn on one bad pitch, one bad hop, one bad play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chipper-jones/momentum-can-turn-on-one-bad-pitch-one-bad-hop-one-bad-play/) [Chipper Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chipper-jones/) > [A luxury liner is really just a bad play surrounded by water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/a-luxury-liner-is-really-just-a-bad-play-surrounded-by-water/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) ## More by Jaime Murray > [One of the most interesting things for me in playing another species is that you want to make them different enough to be alien…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/one-of-the-most-interesting-things-for-me-in-playing-another-species/) [Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/) > [I'm not the best gamer - I think you need to be strategic and level-headed, and you need to remain calm under pressure... and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/i-m-not-the-best-gamer-i-think-you-need-to-be-strategic-and-level/) [Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/) > [If I had known how much I hate auditioning, I doubt I would have become an actress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/if-i-had-known-how-much-i-hate-auditioning-i-doubt-i-would-have/) [Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/) > [Fear is vulnerability's ugly little sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/fear-is-vulnerability-s-ugly-little-sister/) [Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/) > [I fear getting things wrong and messing up, and this makes no rational sense. 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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/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I once told someone I could act. They totally bought it. 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Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [I'm an actor, so I'm never going to feel like I've done enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italia-ricci/i-m-an-actor-so-i-m-never-going-to-feel-like-i-ve-done-enough/) [Italia Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italia-ricci/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When I was 13, I auditioned for the theater school, and I was there for four years. In the meantime, I did my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-de-armas/when-i-was-13-i-auditioned-for-the-theater-school-and-i-was-there-for/) [Ana de Armas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-de-armas/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. 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I was typecast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divine/i-never-planned-to-do-female-roles-it-just-happened-i-was-typecast/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divine/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) [Browse all 21,590 Actor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As an actor, if you decide that someone is bad... you can't play bad, because even the worst person doesn't think what they're doing is bad.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jaime Murray" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-is-bad-you-can-t-play-bad/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Actor" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-is-bad-you-can-t-play-bad/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/jaime-murray-25278_actor_as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-i_767999.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As an actor, if you decide that someone is bad... you can't play bad, because even the worst person doesn't…” — Jaime Murray", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jaime Murray", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As an actor, if you decide...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-is-bad-you-can-t-play-bad/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/as-an-actor-if-you-decide-that-someone-is-bad-you-can-t-play-bad/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```