A Quote by Eileen Atkins

There seem to be two sorts of actors. Some people play themselves marvellously, and others, like me, rather like to become someone else. — © Eileen Atkins
There seem to be two sorts of actors. Some people play themselves marvellously, and others, like me, rather like to become someone else.
There comes a point in many people's lives when they can no longer play the role they have chosen for themselves. When that happens, we are like actors finding that someone has changed the play.
It's not enough to shelve your own competitive streak. You have to try, consciously, to help others succeed. Some people feel this is like shooting themselves in the foot - why aid someone else in creating a competitive advantage? I don't look at it that way. Helping someone else look good doesn't make me look worse. In fact, it often improves my own performance, particularly in stressful situations.
Actors, who should pride themselves on their singularity, are forever trying to be someone else. It isn’t necessary for you, the actor, to like yourself— self-love isn’t easy to come by for most of us— but you must learn to trust who you are. There is no one else like you.
In this world I probably know best. The person I like doesn't look at me but looks at someone else, smiles for someone else. I really know how you're feeling. And I can't truthfully be jealous either. I think if two people naturally like each other, it's almost like a miracle. Someday, will that miracle come true for me too?
I think that some people like to be someone other than themselves when acting, while others are most themselves. I fall into the second camp. For me, acting is a great exercise in getting to the truth about myself.
I'd rather have people dislike my style than change it. If someone says, 'Hey, Yngwie, you play too damn much,' I don't care. They way I play is the way I like to play. If people like it, great. If they don't, it's still fine with me.
There are some actors who can only play themselves, but good actors must really be separated from the people they play.
I mostly play my dynasty or against someone in the hotel. I don't really like online games. I can't stand people yelling in my ear over a headset. I'd rather just play someone like Dwight Howard out in Orlando or people back home. For games like that, it's cool, but just signing on and playing random people, I hate it.
When you hear you're going to audition for 'Dogfight,' the show about bringing ugly women to parties, you're like, 'Oh, great, thank you.' Then you read lines where people call you fat, and you call yourself fat or ugly, and it can wear on you. But that's also our dream as actors, to play someone else and give someone else a voice.
I think the reason I got into it is because you get to be someone else. There are, like, two percent of people in the actors' union who actually make money off of it, so I feel very blessed to be here.
Some people are really proud of me, and some don't like it. I don't really know what to tell those people. It's like people that don't know me or people that aren't even my friends saying I've changed. I have two friends - exactly two friends. It's like, how can someone that's not even my friend say I've changed?
If I'm not like my characters, I think just it's like a musician liking to play certain pieces of music rather than others. I just have more satisfaction when playing complicated things rather than some of your more straightforward, simple moments. . . . I like to be challenged.
You hear a few people saying that, you know, maybe some of the past male players like to watch me play or whatever else, just because I play a bit differently and maybe they can relate to it a bit more with a bigger forehand rather than a backhand, good serve and whatnot.
Every actor I think has got their own number of takes that they like, you know. Some actors like to go all day, you know on the one scene and some actors want to take two takes. I personally like four.
Here we have some people who call themselves Christians and they forget Jesus Christ was a Jew. Something like anti-Semitism is an artificial way of avoiding responsibility. You blame the problems in your country on someone else, on some group.
A lot of us have all sorts of ideas, and we select some rather than others and give expression to those... and some works of art are more successful than others. Some languish in obscurity and are never heard of again, while others form the foundation of a whole school of art.
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