“I'm being mocked because I don't live up to a socially determined view of what other people think a person should look like.” PeopleThinkingShouldLooksPersonsViewsDetermined Author:Wallace Shawn
“After being in one movie, it didn't seem like that would be my life. I had done several jobs, briefly. I'd been a shipping clerk, I worked in a copy shop, I didn't think the acting was going to go on and on.” ThinkingDoneSeemsWould BeJobsActingGoes OnShopsCopiesClerksShipping Author:Wallace Shawn
“Children, I always think, are just putting on a performance of being naive and not understanding anything. I have worked with children in films, and they're treated as adults and they just drop the pretense of being children.” ThinkingChildrenFilmUnderstandingAdultsPerformancesTreatedNaivePretense Author:Wallace Shawn
“I grew up. I began to think the United States had some problems that really required the help of artistic people to solve. And I gave myself permission to be a writer instead of a civil servant.” PeopleThinkingStatesHelpingProblemUnitedUnited StatesGrewGrew UpSolveArtisticServantPermissionCivil Servants Author:Wallace Shawn
“I think I'm trying to write truthfully about life, and naturalism, or the way people normally talk in movies, is a convention. It's not the way people talk in life at all.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingTryingConventionsNaturalism Author:Wallace Shawn
“I grew up in a very polite family, and I suppose my parents were both very polite, and from the time I was a young boy, I suspected that there were passions seething underneath and not being mentioned, and that was something that came to preoccupy me. Somehow I had some drive to write down what people might really be thinking.” PeopleThinkingWritingPassionParentBoysPoliteBeing Me Author:Wallace Shawn
“I'm trying to write truthfully about life, and naturalism, or the way people normally talk in movies, is a convention. The way I write is about life and is quite truthful, and there is a kind of brutal side to the relationship, and to the feelings, that makes it somewhat painful, but I think it's a very intense portrait of the relationship of two people. And a bit about what people feel like when they're alone, because it all takes place in one day, and during the day, they spend a lot of time alone in their different - you get to imagine what their fantasy lives are like.” PeopleThinkingWritingTryingKindDifferentFeelingsFantasyImagineOne DayPainfulIntenseTruthfulBrutalMe AloneNaturalism Author:Wallace Shawn
“I probably have a higher opinion of my writing than the average person, at least when I'm in a good mood, but I don't really think of my plays as only being relevant to a particular month or year.” ThinkingWritingYearsPersonsPlayOpinionParticularMonthsHigherAverageMoodRelevantAverage PersonGood Mood Author:Wallace Shawn
“And my singing, I don't think I could sing Wagner or opera, but I could probably carry a tune. I was in a musical once, but it was never performed.” ThinkingSingingMusicalTunesOperaWagner Author:Wallace Shawn
“I never grew up thinking, 'One day I will play so and so' because I wasn't expecting to be an actor at all.” ThinkingPlayActorsGrewOne DayGrew UpExpecting Author:Wallace Shawn
“I spend most of my time thinking about things like laundry and buying stationery supplies.” ThinkingMy TimeBuyingSuppliesLaundryStationery Author:Wallace Shawn
“In real life, every person is the leading man or woman. We don't think of ourselves as supporting or character actors.” ThinkingMenPersonsRealCharacterActorsReal LifeCharacter Actors Author:Wallace Shawn
“'The Princess Bride' is by far the most popular film I've ever done. I don't think I'll ever top it.” ThinkingDoneFilmPrincessBridesPrincess BridePopular Film Author:Wallace Shawn
“For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence.” ThinkingWritingStillsPlayFormActorsSentencesMy Time Author:Wallace Shawn
“My father was a jazz listener, and I think, at least before I was 5, I was not so into that. Although there were records that emphasized percussion that I liked, like Baby Dodds.” ThinkingFatherRecordsBabyJazzListenersPercussion Author:Wallace Shawn
“I think the whole system of education would change if I were in charge and had the ability to make changes. I don't think I would keep Princeton exactly being Princeton.” IfsThinkingWholeAbilityMaking ChangesPrinceton Author:Wallace Shawn
“I don't have an idea for a play until after I've finished writing it. I write first, and come up with what it's about later. My technique could be compared to having a large canvas and coming in every day and putting a dot on it somewhere, and after several years - literally - I begin to say, That reminds me of an elephant, so I think I'll make it one.” ThinkingWritingYearsFirstsIdeasPlayCome UpFinishedTechniqueCraftsCanvasElephantsDots Author:Wallace Shawn
