Judith Anderson: Private Matters

Judith Anderson in Medea, in 1947, captured by Erwin Blumenfeld.

Interview with Judith Anderson

Conducted by James Grissom

Via Telephone

1984

There are superstitions in the theatre, as you know: Do not mention certain plays; do not whistle; none of this 'good luck' business. I always wanted to add another: Do not talk about your work. Simply do it, and do it well.

John Gielgud had a wonderful word for those actors who talk endlessly about their process, their desires, their progress: Amateurs.

Good actors are diabolically complicated people, and the means by which we dive into an invented character are bound to be abstruse, and, above all, personal. We don't want to see sausages made, so I can't understand the mentality of a person who might want to know how a character was made.

Diaries, prayers, and artistic progress are private matters. Only the works, the life, the acts that derive from these private matters are to be shared. This is very simple, I think. 

© 2014 James Grissom