Being invisible

“Acting for me was a salvation into which I fell, a piece of the family puzzle that was given to me, and I snapped it in place, and there was now a whole image, a fuller person, something where previously there had been nothing…. acting affords me the luxury of metaphysical time travel….of living within someone else’s skin…

“Acting is the only way I know of in which we can live the fantasy of being invisible.”

Alec Guinness, in an interview with James Grissom, 1991

Thalia, believing she is unobserved off-stage, drops her mask for a moment. She looks disillusioned and exhausted.
She wanted to practise her ancient art invisibly, not sell it in the modern industry. I know how she feels.

Thalia, sculpture by Giovanni Volpato. 1790s Bisque, Liebieghaus, Frankfurt. Image: Web Gallery of Art

The Reluctant Interviewee

“What have you been doing?”

By far the hardest part to act is being yourself. I have never been convinced that actors and writers should have to talk about themselves. While there is at least one actor refusing to wear a mask during the pandemic, some of us prefer to keep our masks on. It feels safer and more polite.

In a recent video interview about the impact of lockdown on my work, there was no need to say that I have been separated from a hairdresser for over a year.

The featured image is: Woman holding a mask and a pomegranate
by Lorenzo Lippi, c.1650,
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Angers