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Confronting some stern and faceless judge who would condemn me to a pit of hell if I didn’t achieve the “zone,” if even for a moment. Not a particularly happy place to work from.

Alan Arkin

My favorite kind of film is serious comedy. Comedy with serious underpinning.
ALAN ARKIN

Comedy Favorite Film Kind Serious
Two-thirds of American movies are extensions of commercials — they tell you how to feel and they tell you how to think — rather than letting you figure it out on your own.
ALAN ARKIN

Commercial Country Extension Feel Figure Now Out Rather Tell
And then that’s what you have to be. But what I’m looking for is the opportunity to explore what I can do, probing the limits, learning.
ALAN ARKIN

Explore Learn Limit Look Opportunity Probing
” Education does not mean jamming information into somebody’s head. Rather, it’s that ancient idea that all knowledge is within us; to teach is to help somebody pull it out of themselves.
ALAN ARKIN

Ancient Education Help Idea Information Jam Knowledge Mean Pull Somebody Teach Themselves
I’m an actor. My life as an actor depends on who sends me what. I’m just taking the best stuff that I can find that’s sent my way, regardless of how big or little the paycheck is.
ALAN ARKIN

Actor Best Depend Life Little Paycheck Regard Send Stuff Take What
Every physicist knows that things connect with each other. To isolate things is not the way the universe works – winning best actor is arbitrary.
ALAN ARKIN

Actor Arbitrary Best Connect Isolate Physicist Thing Universe Win Work
No matter what you do or where you are, you’re going to be missing out on something.
ALAN ARKIN

Go Matter Miss Missing Something
Marriage requires searing honesty at all costs. I learned that from my third wife.
ALAN ARKIN

Cost Honest Learn Marriage Require Sear Third Wife
But one of the things I learned from improvising is that all of life is an improvisation, whether you like it or not.
ALAN ARKIN

All Improve Improvisation Learn Life One Thing
I had a hard time treating my field as if it’s horse racing, putting actors in competition against each other.
ALAN ARKIN

Actor Against Competition Each Field Hard Horse Other Put Race Time Treat
Even at that age, six and seven and eight, why I was moved by certain things they did
ALAN ARKIN

Age Certain Eight Even Move Seven Six Thing
Creativity means learning where the rules exist, and then breaking them! Saying, “It’s better this way.” But you have to know the rules in order to break them with any grace.
ALAN ARKIN

Break Creativity Exist Grace Learn Order Rule Say
Improvisation sometimes seemed more like jazz than acting, like verbal jazz, with the actors playing a theme back and forth, and then introducing another themeM
ALAN ARKIN

Act Another Improvisation Introduce Jazz More Seem Sometimes Theme Verbal
I don’t think it does the audience any good to know what I do to prepare.
ALAN ARKIN

Audience Good Keep Know Prepare Surprise Think
As hard as it is in your work, it’s harder in your life. But it can be done.
ALAN ARKIN

Done Hard Harder Life Work Your
All I can say is if the part doesn’t delight me in some way, or I can’t feel any compassion for it, I just can’t do it.
ALAN ARKIN

Compassion Delight Feel Part Say Some Way

Confronting some stern and faceless judge who would condemn me to a pit of hell if I didn’t achieve the “zone,” if even for a moment. Not a particularly happy place to work from.

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Confronting some stern and faceless judge who would condemn me to a pit of hell if I didn’t achieve the “zone,” if even for a moment. Not a particularly happy place to work from.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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