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Stella Adler

Stella Adler Books

Actress

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“You have to get beyond your own precious inner experiences. The actor cannot afford to look only to his own life for all his material nor pull strictly from his own experience to find his acting choices and feelings. The ideas of the great playwrights are almost always larger than the experiences of even the best actors.”

LooksIdeasFeelingsChoicesActorsActingMaterialsPlaywright
Book:Stella Adler - The Art of Acting: preface by Marlon Brando compiled & edited by Howard Kissel
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“Tell yourself that the world is outside, that it's not to be hidden from you, that you are going to thrust yourself forward and be relaxed in the world. You have chosen a field where you're going to be hurt to the blood. But to retreat from the pain is death”

WorldPainHurtBloodFieldsChosenRetreatRelaxedThrust
Book:Stella Adler - The Art of Acting: preface by Marlon Brando compiled & edited by Howard Kissel
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“When an acting teacher tells a student 'that wasn't honest work' or 'that didn't seem real,' what does this mean? In life, we are rarely 'truthful' or 'honest' or 'real'. And characters in plays are almost never 'truthful' or 'honest' or 'real'. What exactly do teachers even mean by these words? A more useful question is: What is the story the actor was telling in their work? An actor is always telling a story. We all are telling stories, all the time. Story: that is what it is all about.”

MeanDoeRealPlayCharacterStoriesSeemsActorsActingTeacherHonestStudentsTruthfulTelling StoriesActing TeachersHonest Work
Author:Stella Adler
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“Happy children should not try to be artists. You have to be born with a broken heart and a sense of loneliness inside. I never had a happy moment as a child myself.”

ShouldTryingHeartChildrenMomentsArtistBornLonelinessBrokenHappy ChildrenHappy Moments
Book:Stella Adler on America's Master Playwrights: Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder, Clifford Odets, William Saroyan, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee
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“Life in the theatre isn't necessarily when you get money from performing. It isn't when you sign a contract. It isn't even when you are in a play. It's when you understand it. If you understand it, you'll know why you want to act.”

IfsKnowsWantPlayTheatrePerformingContractsGet Money
Book:Stella Adler - The Art of Acting: preface by Marlon Brando compiled & edited by Howard Kissel
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“Today the influences of your society pressure you to be successful before your time. They are pulling you down. They have pulled you down, you big, sweet, magnificent, young, potential artists. They have pulled you down so far that you are on the verge of destruction. Only you don't know it because you want to be a success”

KnowsWantBigsTodayYoungArtistSuccessfulInfluenceSweetDestructionPressureBeing SuccessfulMagnificentPullingVerge
Book:Stella Adler - The Art of Acting: preface by Marlon Brando compiled & edited by Howard Kissel
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“Your curse is that you have chosen a form that requires endless study .... It means you have to read, you have to observe, you have to think, so that when you turn your imagination on, it has the fuel to do its job.”

ThinkingMeanJobsFormTurnsImaginationStudyEndlessChosenCurseFuel
Book:Stella Adler - The Art of Acting: preface by Marlon Brando compiled & edited by Howard Kissel
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“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”

LifeArtSoulArtistActingMusicCreativeDesignBeatsDown AndCrushGreat ArtistFine ArtsCreative ArtFamous ArtistInspirational ArtistInspirational ArtInspiring ArtArt And LifeMethod ActingInspiration And ArtInspiring ArtistArt LifeArtists And LifeArtists Minds
Book:Stella Adler on America's Master Playwrights: Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder, Clifford Odets, William Saroyan, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee
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