A Quote by Bel Powley

You have to have really thick skin. Art is obviously there to be criticized and there to be taken in different ways. Not everyone is going to like what you do. — © Bel Powley
You have to have really thick skin. Art is obviously there to be criticized and there to be taken in different ways. Not everyone is going to like what you do.
The life of a dancer is not for everyone. You really have to have some thick skin. You really have to know what you're going into and how competitive the field is.
I have pretty thick skin, and I think if you're going to be in this business, if you're going to be an actor or a writer, you better have a thick skin.
I think there are some people who have taken on fame in extraordinary ways, like Madonna, David Bowie, and Michael Jackson. There are other people who have taken it on in a completely different way, like Prince - who is just as famous and has achieved just as much - but is still unbelievably mysterious, which I guess Bowie managed to hold as well. There are different ways of dealing with it, and for some people I think it becomes an art form of how you put yourself out there, and for other people it's literally a way of life, it's who you are, you act like a celebrity.
I went to school in drag, in art school and my day was completely different because everybody thought I was a chick. You should see me as a chick. So I went as a girl, as like an experiment and it worked really well and everyone was really nice to me but I couldn't talk obviously... you know train conductors were really cool to me on my commute... HA! I looked hot as a chick!
Having a thick skin doesn't mean that you're hard or harsh. I was lucky because I was born with a thick skin. That doesn't mean that things don't bother me, but you have to keep it in perspective.
If your friend is critical [of your work], you have to have a very thick skin and a thick skin is something that only builds up after it's callused for awhile.
There are many ways to be influential. You can work for politicians or in government and make a difference. And for young women who are interested in running for office, you just have to decide you're going to follow Eleanor Roosevelt's maxim about growing skin as thick as the hide of a rhinoceros, and you have to be incredibly well-prepared - better prepared [than a man], actually - and you have to figure out how you're going to present yourself, and you have to have a support group around you, because it can be really a brutal experience.
In the performing arts you have to have thick, thick, thick skin, because of all the rejection you face on a daily basis, and the fact that work never lasts for very long. But you need thin, thin, thin skin in order to access all of your emotions and your creativity so that you can express it. You can't be dead inside. Otherwise you've got nothing to give. So it's a paradox, that we have to exist in both planes in order to do what we do.
Later on in my life, it became a big theme: just being okay and comfortable to take the risk and to have really thick skin and realize not everybody is going to love your product. Get over it, and if you believe in it, keep going forward.
Obviously, Kanye and I are very different in the way we express ourselves publicly. He's so passionate... about art, about culture, about creativity. And he's really good at it. And that honesty manifests itself in ways that are not politically correct, not socially acceptable sometimes.
People act like art is a white thing - or not for people of colour - when, really, so much culture and art comes from people of colour. I want everyone to get into what I am doing. So sometimes I don't like to work just in an art context because it feels like a lot of people aren't going to see it. I like it to be a part of everyday life.
Without that thick skin and a clear vision of what it is you want to do, what it is you know you want to do, it can be really easy to get out here and get lost and swept away in whatever is going on. You really have to be steadfast in the mind for sure.
If you really want your films to say something that you hope is unique, then patience and stamina, thick skin and a kind of stupidity, a mule-like stupidity, is what you really need.
What I do is sometimes - at least in Germany - met with wounding campaigns. I always face the question: should I grow myself a thick skin and ignore it, or should I let myself be wounded? I've decided to be wounded, since, if I grew a thick skin, there are other things I wouldn't feel any more.
I've been in the entertainment industry - wresting, but the entertainment industry since 1989; if you have thin skin, you're going to have a tough time in this town, but I've got thick skin.
I like films, I like movies, I like playing different characters and working with different actors, and filming in different places. I like movies, because it's kind of a combination of every art, it's like it's picture, it's story, it's music, it's kind of like a clash and a collide of every art. It's really neat.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!