"I think that being a producer is business and being an actor is art"
About this Quote
Then comes the protective move: acting as "art". For an actor, the labor is intimate and irrational in a way that doesn't scan on a quarterly report. You can't spreadsheet the moment a performance turns; you can only create conditions for it. D'Onofrio, a performer known for disappearing into roles, is defending a space where vulnerability and obsession aren't treated as inefficiencies. The subtext is a warning about contamination: when actors start thinking like producers, they may preemptively sand down choices to stay "marketable"; when producers treat acting like a deliverable, performances become content.
Contextually, this reads like an actor pushing back against the era of brand-safe casting and algorithmic confidence. It's also a quiet plea for clearer boundaries: let the business people do business, so the artists can take the risks that make the business worth having.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
D'Onofrio, Vincent. (n.d.). I think that being a producer is business and being an actor is art. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-that-being-a-producer-is-business-and-102869/
Chicago Style
D'Onofrio, Vincent. "I think that being a producer is business and being an actor is art." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-that-being-a-producer-is-business-and-102869/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I think that being a producer is business and being an actor is art." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-that-being-a-producer-is-business-and-102869/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.




