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- “When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson
- “Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your mother.” — Janet Malcolm
- “I’m one of those people who thinks you can have a happy life and still be an artist.” — Shelley Duvall
- “There’s a difference between writing about something and living through it. I did both.” — poet/novelist Margaret Walker
- “I believe what Camus says. When the curtain rings down, your job is done.” — Warren Oates
- Physical Media Booklet Essay podcast interview
- “My voice isn’t an instrument I can just hang up on a hook.” — Audra McDonald
- “You can’t be on top all the time. It isn’t natural.” — Olivia de Havilland
- “If I don’t feel it, I can’t play it.” — James Cotton
- “I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.” — Lena Horne
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Category Archives: Actors
How To Make a Scene Happen: Bruce Davison in Short Cuts
Mitchell said to me once, “Bruce Davison is so good at making a scene happen. He is one of those actors who just knows what needs to take place in order for the scene itself to happen.” The best acting … Continue reading
The Ball of Lucy, by Alexandra Billings
I remember the first time I saw Stage Door. At the time (back in college), I was obsessed with both Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers. But from the first moment the actress playing “Judith” came onscreen, I remember vividly thinking, … Continue reading
Dean Stockwell Remembers: 3 Stories About Errol Flynn
It’s Errol Flynn’s birthday today. Here’s an old post I wrote. In 1950, Dean Stockwell appeared in Kim with Errol Flynn. Stockwell was 12 or 13 when they filmed it, and nearing the end of his run as a child-actor. … Continue reading
The Make-Believe of the Moment
In the theatre, where things play out in real-time, a scene may begin with a happy wedding and end in tragic bloodshed. A calm morning breakfast is shattered by the arrival of a telegram. The actors know that at the … Continue reading
In Praise of Rose Byrne
This originally appeared on Capital New York. Australian actress Rose Byrne, currently appearing in both Bridesmaids and X-Men: First Class in the theatres has said that she feels more like “a character actress than a celebrity”: many actors make such … Continue reading
Marilyn Monroe: “I’m Not Interested In Money. I Just Want To Be Wonderful.”
Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926. Objectified while alive, Marilyn Monroe has become the ultimate object in death. The image has become the reality: the multitudinous icons and posters and keychains and figurines standing in for what was … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Carroll Baker
In honor of this actress’ birthday, here’s a repost of my review of her autobiography, which was hugely formative in making me who I am today (a large claim, but accurate). Baby Doll, by Carroll Baker When I was about … Continue reading
“In other words, he’d let you sweat it for a night. And he’d sweat it for a night.”
Lee Marvin on John Ford. Too many good quotes to list. And a great interviewer, too. He doesn’t ask questions. He just speaks, and Lee Marvin takes the prompt. Fantastic.
Song of the Thin Man: The Son of Nick and Nora Charles
Song of the Thin Man is on TCM tonight, so I thought I’d unearth one of my many (many) posts about Dean Stockwell. Song of the Thin Man is yet another movie where Dean Stockwell’s main job is to be … Continue reading