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Daily Inspiration Quote by Olivier Martinez

"But when you work with the director and the real person who is playing opposite you, it changes everything. You are almost in a working session. I was very comfortable, and that's maybe what helped me to get the part"

About this Quote

Martinez is selling a quiet truth about acting that gets lost in the mythology of “talent”: chemistry is a working condition, not a lightning bolt. He frames the audition process less as a gladiator pit and more as a rehearsal with stakes, where the director and scene partner aren’t judges so much as collaborators. That shift in power dynamics is the point. When you’re “with the real person… opposite you,” performance stops being a self-contained demo reel and becomes responsive behavior. The subtext is craft over charisma: acting isn’t delivered at someone, it’s made with them.

The phrase “changes everything” is doing a lot of work. It’s an implicit critique of auditions that isolate actors in a vacuum, forcing them to manufacture intimacy, conflict, or humor without the friction of another human presence. Martinez is also subtly advocating for process-oriented casting, where decision-makers look for adaptability and listening, not just a prepared monologue. Calling it a “working session” recasts the room as professional labor rather than personal judgment, which matters because auditions are famously designed to induce self-consciousness.

“I was very comfortable” sounds casual, but it’s the real reveal: comfort isn’t complacency, it’s access. When an actor feels safe enough to take risks, timing sharpens, vulnerability reads, and choices get bolder. “Maybe what helped me to get the part” lands as modesty, but it also hints at an industry secret: the “best” audition often belongs to the actor who can relax into the give-and-take fastest, because that’s what the job actually requires once cameras roll.

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TopicMovie
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Martinez, Olivier. (n.d.). But when you work with the director and the real person who is playing opposite you, it changes everything. You are almost in a working session. I was very comfortable, and that's maybe what helped me to get the part. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-when-you-work-with-the-director-and-the-real-13537/

Chicago Style
Martinez, Olivier. "But when you work with the director and the real person who is playing opposite you, it changes everything. You are almost in a working session. I was very comfortable, and that's maybe what helped me to get the part." FixQuotes. Accessed February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-when-you-work-with-the-director-and-the-real-13537/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"But when you work with the director and the real person who is playing opposite you, it changes everything. You are almost in a working session. I was very comfortable, and that's maybe what helped me to get the part." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-when-you-work-with-the-director-and-the-real-13537/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

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When an Audition Becomes a Working Session - Olivier Martinez
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About the Author

Olivier Martinez

Olivier Martinez (born January 12, 1966) is a Actor from France.

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