Competition is healthy. Competition is life. Yet most actors refuse to acknowledge this. They don't want to compete. They want to get along. And they are therefore not first-rate actors. The good actor is the one who competes, willingly, who enjoys competing. An actor must compete, or die...Peacefulness and the avoidance of trouble won't help in his acting. It is just the opposite he must seek.
Michael ShurtleffAn expression of feeling isn't worth anything unless it interferes with what the other actor in the scene wants.
Michael ShurtleffWe don't live for realities, but for the fantasies, the dreams of what might be. If we lived for reality, we'd be dead, every last one of us. Only dreams keep us going...When you are acting, don't settle for anything less than the biggest dream for your character's future.
Michael ShurtleffThere's only one reason why a character drinks: to seek confrontation. To fight for what they want in ways normally denied them.
Michael Shurtleff