To my way of thinking, an actor’s course is set even before he’s out of the cradle.
JAMES DEANYou are who you are meant to be. Dance as if no one’s watching. Love as if it’s all you know. Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.
More James Dean Quotes
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On these days I go to my studio, leaf through an art history book, and tell myself that I am part of this great tradition.
JAMES DEAN -
Whatever’s inside making me what I am, it’s like film. Film only works in the dark. Tear it all open and let in the light and you kill it.
JAMES DEAN -
Parents are often at fault, but the kids have some work to do, too.
JAMES DEAN -
Take it easy driving– the life you save may be mine.
JAMES DEAN -
Racing is the only time I feel whole.
JAMES DEAN -
Trust and belief are two prime considerations. You must not allow yourself to be opinionated.
JAMES DEAN -
If I can keep this up and nothing interferes with my progress, one of these days I might be able to contribute something to the world.
JAMES DEAN -
When an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders, it isn’t acting. It’s following instructions.
JAMES DEAN -
An actor must interpret life, and in order to do so must be willing to accept all the experiences life has to offer.
JAMES DEAN -
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 DEAN -
Nowadays, he lives in a world we don’t understand too well, the actor’s world. We don’t see too much of him. But he’s a good boy, my Jim.
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 -
I want to be a Texan 24 hours a day.
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 -
I think the one thing this picture shows that’s new is the psychological disproportion of the kids’ demands on the parents.
JAMES DEAN






