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Daily Inspiration Quote by Victoria Abril

"Acting is the work of two people-it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director"

About this Quote

Abril pulls the curtain back on acting’s favorite myth: the lone genius who “becomes” a character by sheer will. Her line insists that performance is less self-expression than negotiated power. “Complicity” is a loaded word, suggesting a shared secret between actor and director - an agreement to lie convincingly, together, to an audience. It’s affectionate, but it’s also a little dangerous. The actor isn’t just supported; she’s implicated.

The progression in her phrasing does the real work. “Help” sounds benign, like guidance or protection. Then she sharpens the blade: “even the manipulation.” That’s not a complaint so much as an acknowledgment of the job’s psychological mechanics. Directors shape behavior: where to put your body, how long to hold a silence, which emotion reads on camera, when vulnerability is usable. Abril frames that shaping as inevitable, not abusive by definition, because film acting is constructed in pieces - takes, angles, edits - and the director controls the machine that turns fragments into meaning.

Context matters here: Abril came up in European auteur cinema (notably with Almodovar), where the director’s signature can be as visible as the star’s face. In that ecosystem, surrender isn’t weakness; it’s craft. Her quote quietly argues that the director-actor relationship is closer to choreography than inspiration, and that the best performances are co-authored. The unsettling honesty is the point: greatness on screen often requires trust strong enough to tolerate being steered.

Quote Details

TopicMovie
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Abril, Victoria. (2026, January 16). Acting is the work of two people-it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/acting-is-the-work-of-two-people-its-only-89712/

Chicago Style
Abril, Victoria. "Acting is the work of two people-it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/acting-is-the-work-of-two-people-its-only-89712/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Acting is the work of two people-it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/acting-is-the-work-of-two-people-its-only-89712/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

Victoria Abril

Victoria Abril (born July 4, 1959) is a Actress from Spain.

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