Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and acclaimed acting teacher. She founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and Los Angeles with longtime protégée, actress Joanne Linville, who continues to teach Adler's technique. Her grandson Tom Oppenheim now runs the school in New York City, which has produced alumni such as Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Elaine Stritch, Kate Mulgrew, Kipp Hamilton, and Jenny Lumet...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionStage Actress
Date of Birth10 February 1901
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
You will only fail to learn if you do not learn from failing.
When an acting teacher tells a student 'that wasn't honest work' or 'that didn't seem real,' what does this mean? In life, we are rarely 'truthful' or 'honest' or 'real'. And characters in plays are almost never 'truthful' or 'honest' or 'real'. What exactly do teachers even mean by these words? A more useful question is: What is the story the actor was telling in their work? An actor is always telling a story. We all are telling stories, all the time. Story: that is what it is all about.
Today the influences of your society pressure you to be successful before your time. They are pulling you down. They have pulled you down, you big, sweet, magnificent, young, potential artists. They have pulled you down so far that you are on the verge of destruction. Only you don't know it because you want to be a success
The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation.
Actors need a kind of aggression, a kind of inner force. Don't be only one-sided, sweet, nice, good. Get rid of being average. Find the killer in you.
When you stand on the stage you must have a sense that you are addressing the whole world, and that what you say is so important the whole world must listen.
To grow: that is your deepest and truest need when you say, 'I want to be an actor.'
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.
Your curse is that you have chosen a form that requires endless study .... It means you have to read, you have to observe, you have to think, so that when you turn your imagination on, it has the fuel to do its job.
It's not enough to have talent. You have to have a talent for your talent.
You have to get beyond your own precious inner experiences.
The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind.