"I think that most actors don't have very good opinions of themselves"
About this Quote
The specific intent feels less like insult and more like demystification. Actors are routinely treated as either vain or delusional; Rampling offers a third option - self-doubt as a working condition. The subtext is that the job trains you to outsource your worth. You audition, you’re judged, you’re edited, you’re reviewed. Your body and face are your instrument, but also your product. Even success can worsen the problem: praise becomes another dependency, a temporary fix for a baseline suspicion that you’re not enough.
Context matters here because Rampling’s career has been defined by restraint and psychological intensity rather than celebrity performance. Coming out of a European art-house tradition where interiority is currency, she’s speaking to an industry that rewards pliability: be convincing, be desirable, be anyone but yourself. Her phrasing is almost clinically plain, which makes it sharper. No inspirational spin, no therapized uplift - just a quiet acknowledgment that the profession’s central skill (becoming other people) can erode the actor’s relationship to their own self.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rampling, Charlotte. (2026, January 17). I think that most actors don't have very good opinions of themselves. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-that-most-actors-dont-have-very-good-46326/
Chicago Style
Rampling, Charlotte. "I think that most actors don't have very good opinions of themselves." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-that-most-actors-dont-have-very-good-46326/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I think that most actors don't have very good opinions of themselves." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-that-most-actors-dont-have-very-good-46326/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

