The audience should feel like voyeurs. Their response is absolutely crucial.
Meaning of the quote
The quote means that the audience should feel like they are secretly watching something they're not supposed to see. Their reaction to what they're watching is really important for the actor. The actor wants the audience to feel like they're spying on the characters, which makes the audience more engaged and interested in the story.
About Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman was an acclaimed English actor known for his distinctive deep voice and memorable roles in films like Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and the Harry Potter series. He began his career in the theater, becoming a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before making a successful transition to film and television.
More quotes from Alan Rickman
Market forces impose certain rules before a film can actually get made.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Each character I play has different dimensions. I’m not interested in words that pull them together.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
My parents certainly didn’t have anything to do with the theater. I’m some kind of accident.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I’m always aware of the camera and it feels like that’s the audience.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I’ve never been able to plan my life. I just lurch from indecision to indecision.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I don’t think it’s right that everybody knows everything about me.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I’m a quite serious actor who doesn’t mind being ridiculously comic.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
All I want to see from an actor is the intensity and accuracy of their listening.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
My idea of a real treat is Magic Mountain without standing in line.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I think worrying things are going on in England – a real apathy.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Talent is an accident of genes – and a responsibility.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I was 7, and I remember being given a part in a play and thinking, This is exciting.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
You can lull the paying customers as long as they get slapped.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Acting touches nerves you have absolutely no control over.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Maverick is a word which appeals to me more than misfit. Maverick is active, misfit is passive.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
It would be wonderful to think that the future is unknown and sort of surprising.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Who I am gets in the way of people looking innocently at the parts I play.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
If you spend any time in Los Angeles, there’s only one topic of conversation.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
What is it about actors? God knows I get bored with actors talking about themselves.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
One longs for a director with a sense of imagination.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Nothing gives me as much pleasure as travelling. I love getting on trains and boats and planes.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I want to swim in both directions at once. Desire success, court failure.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
The audience should feel like voyeurs. Their response is absolutely crucial.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
On film you put all your energies into a single glance.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
If you could build a house on a trampoline, that would suit me fine.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
I think there’s some connection between absolute discipline and absolute freedom.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
There’s a voice inside you that tells you what you should do.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
Somebody with Debbie Reynolds’ features doesn’t get cast as the Wicked Witch.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
When I get off the plane in England I always feel about two inches shorter.
British actor and director (1946-2016)
What’s interesting about the process of acting is how often you don’t know what you’re doing.
British actor and director (1946-2016)