88 Quotes by Stella Adler

The best author is a dead author, because he’s out of your way and you own the play. Take what he has given you and use it for what you need.

The actor must be full of passion. If he’s too cool he’s better off as the manager of a company, not someone who appears on the stage.

You have to understand your best. Your best isn’t Barrymore’s best or Olivier’s best or my best, but your own. Every person has his norm. And in that norm every person is a star. Olivier could stand on his head and still not be you. Only you can be you. What a privilege! Nobody can reach what you can if you do it. So do it. We need your best, your voice, your body. We don’t need for you to imitate anybody, because that would be second best. And second best is no better than your worst.

Acting requires a creative and compassionate attitude. It must aim to lift life up to a higher level of meaning and not tear it down or demean it. The actor’s search is a generous quest for that larger meaning. That’s why acting is never to be done passively.

That spark has to be kept alive.

The thing that makes you say, “I want to do something” – that is the beginning of talent.

The play is not in the words, it's in you!