I call this book The Intent to Live because great actors don't seem to be acting, they seem to be actually living.

I call this book The Intent to Live because great actors don't seem to be acting, they seem to be actually living.

You can't play an emotional condition; you have an emotional condition, and because you have that condition, you try to overcome it with active doings (intentions).

A good or great performance is like peeling an onion; in every scene you reveal another layer, something the audience hasn't seen until then. They stay involved because they are constantly learning about and discovering the character they are watching. They can't take you for granted and it keeps them hooked.

You must create the character's internal life. What do I mean by internal life? I mean the thoughts, feelings, memories, and inner decisions that may not be spoken. When we look into the eyes of actors giving fully realized performances, we can see them thinking. We're interested in what they're experiencing that may never be spoken, that quality of nonverbal expression - which is as much a part of the characters as breathing and as real as what they say and do. This is their internal life. It helps us believe in the characters and care about them.

You're not simply entitled to be an actor - you're not an actor just because you call yourself one - you earn it. You earn it by working.

Acting represents all that human beings experience, and if you want it to be 'nice,' you will never be a serious communicator of the human experience.