And he must be allowed the space, the freedom to express himself in the role. Without that space, an actor is no more than an unthinking robot with a chest-full of push-buttons.
JAMES DEANIn the short span of his lifetime, an actor must learn all there is to know, experience all there is to experience, or approach that state as closely as possible.
More James Dean Quotes
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If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.
JAMES DEAN -
There is no way to be truly great in this world. We are all impaled on the crook of conditioning.
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He must be superhuman in his efforts to store away in the core of his subconscious everything that he might be called upon to use in the expression of his art.
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I think the one thing this picture shows that’s new is the psychological disproportion of the kids’ demands on the parents.
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If you’re not afraid, if you take everything you are, everything worthwhile in you and direct it at one goal, one ultimate mark, you’ve got to get there.
JAMES DEAN -
Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that’s all you have.
JAMES DEAN -
I didn’t know what to do. How do you tell an eight-year-old boy his mother’s going to die? I tried. In my own stumbling way I tried to prepare Jim for it.
JAMES DEAN -
Remember: Life is short, break the rules
JAMES DEAN -
How can you measure acting in inches?
JAMES DEAN -
What better way to die? It’s fast and clean and you go out in a blaze of glory!
JAMES DEAN -
It is the best thing that can happen to an actor. I am one of the youngest to belong. If I can keep this up and nothing interferes with my progress
JAMES DEAN -
Being a good actor isn’t easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I’m done.
JAMES DEAN -
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
JAMES DEAN -
To me, acting is the most logical way for people’s neuroses to manifest themselves, in this great need we all have to express ourselves.
JAMES DEAN -
One of these days I might be able to contribute something to the world.
JAMES DEAN -
But you can’t show some far off idyllic conception of behavior if you want the kids to come and see the picture.
JAMES DEAN -
My fun days are over.
JAMES DEAN -
When an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders, it isn’t acting. It’s following instructions. Anyone with the physical qualifications can do that.
JAMES DEAN -
A good boy, and I’m very proud of him. Not easy to understand, no sir. He’s not easy to understand. But he’s all man, and he’ll make his mark.
JAMES DEAN -
You’ve got to show what it’s really like, and try to reach them on their own grounds.
JAMES DEAN -
Anyone with the physical qualifications can do that. So the director’s task is just that – to direct, to point the way. Then the actor takes over.
JAMES DEAN -
Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that’s all you have.
JAMES DEAN -
Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.
JAMES DEAN -
Racing is the only time I feel whole.
JAMES DEAN -
To my way of thinking, an actor’s course is set even before he’s out of the cradle.
JAMES DEAN -
Trust and belief are two prime considerations. You must not allow yourself to be opinionated.
JAMES DEAN