Daily Inspiration Quote by Jessica Lange

Lange is pushing back on a very specific kind of cultural gatekeeping: the idea that Shakespeare is a password-protected room, accessible only to people who already know the code. Her move is slyly democratic. She reframes “difficulty” not as a property of the text, but as a misconception we inherit from classrooms, prestige culture, and the aura of “expansive” language. In other words: Shakespeare isn’t hard; we’re trained to treat him like homework.

The subtext is actorly and practical. For performers, “difficulty” isn’t solved by decoding themes; it’s solved by speaking. Lange’s claim that it’s “easy because it’s so brilliantly written” is less contradiction than craft insight: the writing carries you if you ride its rhythm. “The words are perfect” isn’t worship, it’s a working statement about precision - syntax that cues intention, meter that guides breath, images that do the emotional heavy lifting. When language is that exact, an actor can make choices quickly because the text is already doing direction.

Context matters: Lange comes from a lineage of stage-trained film actors who treated Shakespeare not as museum art but as usable material. Her emphasis on “intelligent and very emotional” also rejects the false split between intellect and feeling that often haunts high culture. She’s insisting the plays aren’t puzzles to admire from a distance; they’re engineered for impact. Shakespeare survives, she implies, not because he’s revered, but because he’s playable.