50 Great Acting Quotes to Inspire You

We've collected lots of acting quotes over the years, but these are the best. Every time we read them we become inspired and focused, and fall in love with the craft all over again. May they do the same for you.

What is Acting?

Acting quotes that define the art.

1. Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
   - Sanford Meisner
2. An actor is a fool for God.
   - Gerardine Clark
3. Without wonder and insight, acting is just a business. With it, it becomes creation.
   - Bette Davis
4. The best acting is instinctive. It's not intellectual, it's not mechanical, it's instinctive.
   - Craig MacDonald
5. That's what makes acting so attractive. You get to break all your own rules.
   Gerardine Clark
6. Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.
   - Bette Davis
7. Acting is standing up naked and turning around very slowly.
   - Rosalind Russell
8. Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.
   - Meryl Streep
9. Good acting -- real acting is impossible to spot. Do you ever catch talents like Robert Duvall or Kathy Bates acting? No. I defy you to show me where.
   - William Esper
10. Stop explaining yourself. Shut up and act!
    - Craig MacDonald

Practical Acting Quotes

Acting quotes to remember when you're working.

Funny Acting Quotes

Acting quotes to make you laugh.

Even More Acting Quotes

There you have it: the acting quotes nearest and dearest to our hearts. Use them well.