Frances Sternhagen: I Let It Be
"Pour everything into the work. It is really a joy and a privilege to work as an actor. I don’t want to muck it up by wondering how I get there and what it all means. I let it be."
“I believe in the mystery of things, including acting. I don’t want to know why things work, or, rather, I don’t need to know how things work. When I’ve had a good play and I’ve worked with good actors, the thing works. I know that the mix of ingredients—play, director, actors, luck—have made it work, but I don’t want to get to the bottom of it.
“A lot of actors want to get to the bottom of everything. I’m not one of those. I believe in private, intense study of a part, and then I bring what I’ve found to the group of working actors. They bring their private study; I bring mine. I wish they kept it more private. I want to admire what they’ve done. I don’t need to know what they fell into to find the power to do it. It ruins it for me. Because all I can see now is the diving into the pain or the abuse or the rejection they’ve told me about.
“I also don’t want to know about the business of the theatre. An agent of mine loved the dealing, the negotiation. I don’t want to know about that. Just put me to work. I don’t think about reviews much, and some actors harbor resentment for years over a review. It’s one person’s opinion, and they’re often wrong. They are often wrong when they praise you as well as damn you. It’s not important. Only when an interview comes up am I reminded what a critic wrote thirty years ago. I’ve moved on. I think you have to move on. Pour everything into the work. It is really a joy and a privilege to work as an actor. I don’t want to muck it up by wondering how I get there and what it all means. I let it be.”
Interview conducted by James Grissom/2004/New Rochelle