"Playing in front of an audience was just such a turn-on for me, and you have 200 people in the audience and it's like doing live theater. And filming something that goes to millions of people several weeks later, it's an interesting dynamic"
About this Quote
Then she pivots to the colder math of screen acting: “millions of people several weeks later.” The scale is bigger, yet the experience is lonelier. Film and TV promise immortality and reach, but they remove the actor from the moment of exchange. You perform into a void, trusting editors, timing, and marketing to deliver your work to an audience you can’t feel. Even applause, when it arrives, arrives as ratings, reviews, or delayed comments - metabolized through intermediaries.
The “interesting dynamic” line is a tidy professional understatement for a deeper tension in modern performance culture: intimacy versus amplification. Elfman’s subtext is that actors don’t just chase visibility; they chase presence. Theater offers communion. Camera offers distribution. In an era where everyone performs for delayed metrics - likes, views, algorithmic aftershocks - her distinction lands as a clear-eyed map of how attention changes when it’s immediate versus when it’s mediated.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Elfman, Jenna. (2026, January 17). Playing in front of an audience was just such a turn-on for me, and you have 200 people in the audience and it's like doing live theater. And filming something that goes to millions of people several weeks later, it's an interesting dynamic. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/playing-in-front-of-an-audience-was-just-such-a-80211/
Chicago Style
Elfman, Jenna. "Playing in front of an audience was just such a turn-on for me, and you have 200 people in the audience and it's like doing live theater. And filming something that goes to millions of people several weeks later, it's an interesting dynamic." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/playing-in-front-of-an-audience-was-just-such-a-80211/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Playing in front of an audience was just such a turn-on for me, and you have 200 people in the audience and it's like doing live theater. And filming something that goes to millions of people several weeks later, it's an interesting dynamic." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/playing-in-front-of-an-audience-was-just-such-a-80211/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
