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
people actors introverted
A lot of good actors tend to be quite introverted as people.
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.
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.
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?
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.
believe afterlife dont-believe
I don't believe in an afterlife.
years honest life-is
Life is just more comfortable if you're honest and open about everything. I spent so many years being in the closet about one thing or another.
acting firsts disguise
What drew me to acting in the first place was disguise.
believe benefits world
I believe deeply in therapy. There's no one in the world who wouldn't benefit from it.
sorry opportunity theatre
I feel so sorry for younger actors who aren't able to have the opportunities that I had, starting out in repertory theatre. It's really tough on young actors now.
play careers resemblance-is
Most of my career has been spent with the RSC doing Shakespeare, and the thing you learn from Shakespeare is that his historical plays don't bear anything other than a basic resemblance to history.
teenage believe writing
If I could write a letter to my teenage self, I'd probably say something like: 'You ain't gonna believe what will become of you.'
beautiful kings sunday
As we're leaving the King's Arms Hotel after Sunday lunch, I watch a beautiful white dove walking down the wet road. A car approaches and the bird accidentally turns into the wheel rather than away from it. A gentle crunch. The car passes. A shape like a discarded napkin left in the road. Still perfectly white, no red stains, but bearing no relation anymore to the shape of a bird. A trail of white feathers flutter down the road after the car. The suddeness is very upsetting. That gentle crunch.
obviously
When I'm painting and drawing I only do people. Acting is obviously portraiture - and writing is as well.