Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBEis an English actor of South African origin, he is a two time Laurence Olivier Award winner and four time nominee. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and toured in many roles, as well as appearing on film and TV, and working as a writer and theatre director. In 2001, he starred in his cousin Ronald Harwood’s play Mahler's Conversion, and said that the story of a composer sacrificing his faith for his career echoed...
NationalitySouth African
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth14 June 1949
book rehearsal peter
I've been quoting the book [on Peter Sutcliffe] constantly in rehearsals. Some members of the cast have stated their disapproval that it should even have been written. Some of the women have expressed more - disgust and anger. What are they saying? They'd prefer not to know, not to understand? They'd prefer certain areas of life to be censored? Isn't that partly what breeds the Sutcliffes and the Nilsens?
email i-can
I'm a complete technophobe. I can't even email.
attitude fate way
I have a Woody Allen Jewish attitude to life: that it's all going to be disastrous. That it hasn't all been that way is simply down to some random quirk of fate.
reading dark reflection
Reading Shakespeare is sometimes like looking through a window into a dark room. You don't see in. You see nothing but a reflection of yourself unable to see in. An unflattering image of yourself blind.
silly party opposites
Why is an actor's unintentional giggling called a 'corpse'? It seems to me quite the opposite. It proves that he's very much alive, and can still tell how silly this all is: him dressed up as someone else speaking words written by a third party.
school kids boys
I was a weak kid, not good at what all the boys at school were good at and I found that by acting, by being other people, I could liberate myself from those inadequacies.
pain panic actors
It's good for actors to confront those things we have to act: panic, pain and death.
way fans reinventing
I'm a huge fan of David Hockney. I love the way he keeps reinventing himself.
letting-go men hug
Now the dressing-room full of RSC hierarchy. Suddenly Trevor Nunn pushes his way through and 'Trevs' me. I've heard a lot about this 'Trevving', but never had it done to me. From what I'd heard, a 'Trev' is an arm round your shoulder and a sideways squeeze. But this 'Trev' is a full frontal hug, so complete and so intimate that the dressing-room instantly clears, as if by suction. I'm left alone in the arms of this famous man wondering whether it's polite to let go.
writing drawing people
When I'm painting and drawing I only do people. Acting is obviously portraiture - and writing is as well.
careers acting mystery
The whole of my acting career is a bit of a mystery to me.
hero play built
I was never built to play the hero. Physically or emotionally... And they're not as rewarding to play. At least for me.
language feels i-can
I can feel the power of the words doing the work. Must trust language more.
skills car effort
The effort of learning. It's the same when you approach any new skill or technique, from a dance step to driving a car. The effort of learning stops you, at first, from doing it well.