"Actors who are lovers in real life are often incapable if playing the part of lovers to an audience. It is equally true that sympathy between actors who are not lovers may create a temporary emotion that is perfectly sincere"
About this Quote
The second half is the sharper twist: “sympathy” between non-lovers can produce “temporary” emotion that’s “perfectly sincere.” Novello is arguing for the paradox at the heart of acting - sincerity is not the same as biography. Two professionals who trust each other can generate real feeling precisely because it’s bounded. The temporary container of rehearsal and performance lets them risk more, not less. There’s no mortgage, no history, no “what are we?” looming after curtain call; the freedom is structural.
Context matters: Novello’s world of West End glamour and public image treated romance as both marketing and minefield. His line quietly resists the tabloid idea that private life is the truest content. In his view, the audience doesn’t pay for your relationship; they pay for the illusion you can build with another human, even - especially - when it’s only true for two hours.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Novello, Ivor. (2026, January 17). Actors who are lovers in real life are often incapable if playing the part of lovers to an audience. It is equally true that sympathy between actors who are not lovers may create a temporary emotion that is perfectly sincere. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/actors-who-are-lovers-in-real-life-are-often-48583/
Chicago Style
Novello, Ivor. "Actors who are lovers in real life are often incapable if playing the part of lovers to an audience. It is equally true that sympathy between actors who are not lovers may create a temporary emotion that is perfectly sincere." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/actors-who-are-lovers-in-real-life-are-often-48583/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Actors who are lovers in real life are often incapable if playing the part of lovers to an audience. It is equally true that sympathy between actors who are not lovers may create a temporary emotion that is perfectly sincere." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/actors-who-are-lovers-in-real-life-are-often-48583/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
