Mikhail Baryshnikov Quotes

When you're on stage, unless you surrender to the moment, you're not telling the truth. I look for people that tell me the truth.

Intimacy comes from being yourself on the stage and making the audience feel, without trying, that you're sittin' down there with 'em, playing, and that can happen in a big hall, if you have a good audience that want to listen.

I always found that the closer I got to who I really am, on stage, the more they responded to it.

Acting is all about truth and honesty, and the sensitivity that's capable of transporting you.

Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

I kind of keep my personality in my pocket a lot. When I start to do stand-up, that's not my true personality either. It's the personality of a guy who hasn't been able to say what he wanted to say.

The lens is the actor's best critic... showing his mind more clearly than on the stage. You can get wonderful cooperation out of the lens if you are true, but God help you if you are not.

I love intimacy, always, of performing.

This is what I believe about performing: There is no reason to be on stage - there is no reason to be there - if you're not going to put all your baggage somewhere else and just be honest. Whatever you're doing - screw it up, do great - just be there, and be honest. That's the most important thing.

For me, there's a fine line between being a cheeseball and being a good performer.

Whatever else has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I sing, I believe. I'm honest.

As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me.

With any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be, otherwise it's just not acting. It's lying.

Acting is a matter of giving away secrets.

To stand up on the stage is to say to many people: Look at me. How can you do that without speaking the only truth you know? There is no such thing as an uncommitted actor.

I assume the body language no matter what in doing voiceover. There is a transformative aspect.

Don't forget there are two sides to performing. Finding the truth, but you also have to be transparent enough for the audience to see it. How many times have you seen a performance and thought: 'Well, it seems to be meaning a great deal to you but it ain't coming across to me?' It is to be shared.

There are a lot of different facets to my personality that I don't use all the time in my house, or in everyday life, that I can experience and share when I'm on a stage.

There is a sense in which we have - like, I go in to teach a class; I may be somewhat different than I would be talking to you, although it's related because it's public. I'm very different with my roommate or my lover or my cats. But I don't know if that means you're acting, really, if you're being truthful.

Modelling asks you to be conscious of your outer self, but with acting, you have to let that go.

I would love to have an ocean of love right now. That said, the number-one rule of acting is, 'Do not seek approval from the audience.' People don't realize that. You can't do stuff to get applause. You have to live in the truth.

I liked theatre because I could hide behind a role I was playing, but now, I just love being on stage. I don't pretend that I'm anyone else, I just show my full range when I am up there, and it's very liberating.

To hear someone talk about their life - you get to know the way their eyes moisten up, how big the smile is or how comfortable their body language is while talking to someone.

Watching somebody sing reveals a lot about character.

At the end of the day, you're trying to - be it on theatre or on the camera - tell the truth and be honest in the moment.