Roger Rees Quotes

Powerful Roger Rees for Daily Growth

About Roger Rees

Roger Rees (January 5, 1944 – July 10, 2015) was a renowned Welsh-American actor, director, and author, best known for his work in both theater and television. Born and raised in Wales, he developed an early passion for acting that led him to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Rees made a name for himself on the British stage with roles in productions like "The National Health" and "Antony and Cleopatra." His breakthrough role came in 1981 when he took over the lead part of Arthur Dent in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which later led to his appearance in the BBC television series adaptation. In 1984, Rees moved to the United States and found immediate success with his role as Robin Colcord on the popular TV show "Falcon Crest." However, he is perhaps best known for portraying TiVo founder and CEO R.J. Reynolds in the HBO comedy series "Silicon Valley" from 2014 to 2015. Rees's love for theater never wavered, and he continued to appear in numerous Broadway productions throughout his career, including "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby," for which he won a Tony Award in 1982. He also directed several plays on Broadway and off-Broadway, such as "The Dresser" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten." In addition to his acting career, Rees authored two books: "Roger Rees's Britain," a travel guide featuring his favorite spots in Wales, and "From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo: A Study of Infamy," a work exploring the historical context and human impact of infamous detention centers. Rees passed away on July 10, 2015, from a rare form of lung cancer. His contributions to theater, film, and television continue to inspire generations of actors and audiences alike.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The theater is a mirror held up to nature."

Roger Rees' quote "The theater is a mirror held up to nature" implies that the stage serves as a reflection or representation of real life, its human experiences, emotions, and societal issues. By portraying these aspects through plays and performances, theater enables us to understand and empathize with various aspects of humanity more deeply than we might in everyday life.

"I think art in any form has a great responsibility to take risks and explore the human condition."

This quote by Roger Rees emphasizes the role of artistic expression in reflecting and examining the complexities of human nature and experience. He suggests that art should not shy away from taking risks, pushing boundaries, and tackling challenging themes to provide a deeper understanding and empathy for humanity. In essence, he advocates for art as a means to explore the depths of the human condition, fostering personal growth, and societal development.

"Acting is about making choices and being truthful with those choices."

This quote highlights that acting, at its core, involves making informed decisions based on a character or situation, and committing to these choices wholeheartedly for an authentic portrayal. It emphasizes the importance of sincerity and truth in an actor's performance, as being genuine with their choices will resonate more deeply with audiences and create a convincing, impactful performance.

"In theater, there's nothing like the feeling of a live audience - it's electric."

This quote emphasizes the unique, electrifying energy that emanates from a live theater audience. The power and immediacy of their presence can bring an indescribable feeling to actors on stage, adding an element of excitement and intensity that cannot be replicated in recorded performances or solo practice. It is a testament to the enduring charm and magic of live theater.

"Everything in the world has a spirit that responds to the spiritual vibration of humankind."

This quote suggests that Roger Rees believed that all things in the universe possess a spiritual essence or energy, which can interact with human spirits or consciousness. In other words, he saw the world as interconnected and animated by spiritual forces, responsive to the vibrations of human thoughts, feelings, and actions. It implies a holistic view where humans are not separate from but deeply connected to the rest of the universe, implying a need for respect, care, and harmony in our interactions with nature and each other.

I got out of this school and went to Camberwell College of Arts, a terribly prestigious thing to do. I was there to be a painter. And I sketched so well that, a year later, I was sent to Slade School of Fine Art, one of the great art schools.

- Roger Rees

College, Year, Great Art, Year Later

When it was announced I had won the Tony Award, I was in Bangkok doing a movie with Judi Dench. I remember coming back from the location to the Oriental Hotel and hearing someone yelling across the reception area, 'You've won the Tony!' It was wonderful and strange to be halfway around the world.

- Roger Rees

Doing, I Remember, Dench, Bangkok

You got paid on Friday, go for a late-night poker game, and have no money on Saturday. But the RSC took your rent out of the paycheck, so at least you had a place to sleep.

- Roger Rees

Game, Late-Night, Took, Rent

'Merry Wives of Windsor' is a wonderful machine. It's one of the great farces, and it's astonishing to remember that this is written by the same man who wrote 'Hamlet,' 'The Taming of the Shrew' or 'Cymbeline.' It's so similar, and yet the form is so different.

- Roger Rees

Remember, Hamlet, Merry, Windsor

Sometimes the most excruciating experiences in rehearsals and performances yield the most beautiful work.

- Roger Rees

Most, Excruciating, Yield

I have a little studio in Chinatown, and I sometimes go there and rearrange my brushes. But I would have to stop acting altogether in order to become a painter. At the moment, I'm still interested and active as an actor and director. Besides, I rather think acting and painting are all part of the same creative urge.

- Roger Rees

Sometimes, Rather, Studio, Chinatown

The Elizabethan mind wanted and demanded that one word could mean 50 things. What Shakespeare offers us is not ambiguity; it's choices.

- Roger Rees

Mind, Could, Offers, Ambiguity

Gerry Schoenfeld told me 'Les Parents Terribles' was not going to sell, even though we had Kathleen Turner and Jude Law in the cast. So we called it 'Indiscretions.'

- Roger Rees

Law, Gerry, Though, Turner

I joined the Royal Shakespeare Co. with no experience whatsoever - I'd never been to a drama school or anything. But I was strong and could lift things, I could move scenery about.

- Roger Rees

Strong, Been, Whatsoever, No Experience

My first acquaintance with 'Peter Pan' was back when I lived in South London. I was at art school, and I needed to earn money, so I got a job as a stagehand at the Wimbledon Theatre, and 'Peter Pan' was on tour there with Donald Sinden, who was playing Captain Hook.

- Roger Rees

London, Donald, South, Pan

I love to argue and share bright ideas in a rehearsal room, and when you live with somebody who is working on the same show, the delight can go on all evening!

- Roger Rees

Love, Bright, Rehearsal, Delight

I don't think perfection is possible. I think you can attempt to reach perfection, but I don't think it's a possible thing. I think perfection is a moving point, and we spend our artistic lives chasing it.

- Roger Rees

Think, I Think, Lives, Perfection

I want to play King Lear, Macbeth, Benedict, Coriolanus. I wouldn't mind doing Hamlet again. Well, I'm a little old. Perhaps I can rub Vaseline on the audience's eyes.

- Roger Rees

Mind, Play, King Lear, Macbeth

Well-written plays deserve to be learned from and understood properly, both by actors and audiences alike, and Rattigan's very human characters help us do that.

- Roger Rees

Deserve, Very, Plays, Well-Written

The classical actor in England makes roughly the equivalent of a bus driver.

- Roger Rees

England, Actor, Bus Driver, Roughly

Rattigan's world demanded unwavering trust in principles, loyalty, and virtue. At the time of this play - Rattigan was writing this play in 1947 about an incident that took place in 1914 - should a boy say he didn't do something, his father would believe him; a British father would take the defense of his son's honor to his grave.

- Roger Rees

Trust, Play, Unwavering, Incident

Some of the finest Shakespeare has been done recently by college theater programs. I'll tell you what these young kids have: They have a natural authority in Shakespeare. They feel a right to do it. And once they honor the humanity of it, the rhythm of the verse comes with it.

- Roger Rees

College, Some, Been, Verse

The shields were enormous. In 'Julius Caesar,' I died early in the scene and used to fall asleep under the shield until I was woken up by applause.

- Roger Rees

Shield, Julius, Enormous, Applause

My neighborhood in South London was very Dickensian.

- Roger Rees

London, Very, South, Neighborhood

If you take away a lot of the pretension and grandness from Shakespeare, a true poeticism is revealed.

- Roger Rees

Away, Lot, Take, Revealed

'Nicholas Nickleby' was the best example, where 43 people could make an audience of 1,500 look at a fingernail at any given moment. It was so controlled, and yet it was a group of disparate individuals. It was a happy, constructive time, and it seemed to be an active discussion of what makes the theater work.

- Roger Rees

Happy, Best, Discussion, Disparate

What I strive to do is to make the theater experience something that people remember and recall rather than dismiss because it was less like their everyday experiences. So, I'm less interested in internal emotionalism and much more in making the audience laugh and cry by the devices that we use as theater actors.

- Roger Rees

Rather, Internal, Use, Everyday

I like to do really good things. But 'good' - witness Charles Dickens - doesn't mean 'not popular.'

- Roger Rees

Good, Like, Charles, Dickens

I like working with authors who are a bit pesky.

- Roger Rees

Working, Like, Bit, Authors

I directed Bebe Neuwirth in 'Here Lies Jenny' at the Post Street Theatre. I was gobsmacked - the audiences were extremely knowledgeable, affectionate, interested, and not cynical.

- Roger Rees

Here, Directed, Affectionate, Cynical

The loser, the fool, is embraced in England because there is a recognition of silliness there that allows a person to keep his ambitions and desires at a certain distance. Just being in the race is enough.

- Roger Rees

Distance, England, Race, Silliness

I've learned from the greatest people, and I've got wonderful things to pass on.

- Roger Rees

Pass, Things, Learned, Wonderful Things

Now, of course, we know there has been an end to apartheid in South Africa, but what excited me was seeing it in the context of history.

- Roger Rees

Africa, Been, South Africa, Context

I was really serious about painting, so I could never be a Sunday painter. You can't just switch it on and off.

- Roger Rees

Could, About, On And Off, Switch

Everything happens every night for this audience, and it's a very special occasion to come to the theatre.

- Roger Rees

Audience, Occasion, Very, Every Night

I've often thought I'm a short music hall comedian stuck in a leading man's body.

- Roger Rees

Music, Thought, Comedian, Stuck

No lens is quick enough to track the movement of the human body. The molecules are always moving.

- Roger Rees

Human Body, Always, Quick, Lens

'Nicholas Nickleby' is 800 pages long. At one time, the theater production was 15 hours long. So it's an interesting process, about what you leave out and what you select.

- Roger Rees

Process, Hours, Select, One Time

'Waiting for Godot,' when it first came out in 1950, was a very different sort of play to the plays that were in the West End at that time in London, because most of those plays were what we call drawing-room comedies.

- Roger Rees

Play, Very, Plays, Comedies

They said my voice was terrible, nervous, and spotty and that I must go away and learn how to use it properly. I must admit I was rather agape, since I had never thought about making my voice better.

- Roger Rees

Voice, Thought, Away, Terrible

We did a black 'Julius Caesar' in which the predominant accent was Caribbean. This offends many people, you know. I also had a Chinese Marc Anthony. I also managed - this caused a great shock - I also got some white guys in it as well!

- Roger Rees

Some, Predominant, Offends, Caesar

I thought acting was just going on and remembering all of one's lines.

- Roger Rees

Thought, Remembering, Going, Lines

The sense of popularity in an actor is essential.

- Roger Rees

Actor, Sense, Popularity, Essential

I think like an actor when I'm acting, and I think like a director when I'm directing.

- Roger Rees

Think, Actor, I Think, Directing

You might be the best Hamlet of your generation in the bathroom, but unfortunately, you have to come out and do it on stage, and it's best to do it to people who would fill the house.

- Roger Rees

Generation, Might, Hamlet, Bathroom

People very often say to actors that they admire their careers, and I rather think that what's implied by that is that we have a choice in the matter. When really, most actors, me included, do whatever comes along next.

- Roger Rees

Think, Next, Very, Included

I've been with Shakespeare all my life.

- Roger Rees

My Life, Been, Shakespeare, All My Life

Even Shakespeare gives you a scene off.

- Roger Rees

You, Even, Gives, Shakespeare

If Shakespeare were alive today, he'd be doing sitcoms.

- Roger Rees

Doing, Alive, Were, Shakespeare

Now, when I talk about Shakespeare, I can't talk too much about Gielgud or Olivier. Because nobody knows who I'm talking about.

- Roger Rees

Too Much, Talking, About, Shakespeare

It doesn't seem Shakespeare works if you turn him into a religion.

- Roger Rees

Him, Turn, Works, Shakespeare

Most of my enjoyable times in the theater have been working in a group.

- Roger Rees

Been, Most, Times, Enjoyable

You may be modest and un-egotistical in your life; I'm quite ordinary. But I play big egotistical parts.

- Roger Rees

Play, Big, May, Egotistical

Exercising choice is a good thing.

- Roger Rees

A Good Thing, Good Thing, Exercising

After I left the R.S.C., I did a musical, 'Masquerade,' where I played a rabbit. I was the lead.

- Roger Rees

Left, Masquerade, Musical, Rabbit

Daring to love someone is something we all do.

- Roger Rees

Love, Someone, Daring, To Love

The hard thing is making sure you work with wonderful people and that you get something out of it so that you can get better as an actor.

- Roger Rees

Work, Making, Sure, Hard Thing

I was an art student when I was a boy, and as an art student you don't have to talk to anyone - you just have to paint really wonderful paintings. It's very unlike being an actor, where you have to talk all the time.

- Roger Rees

Art, Student, Very, Unlike

Arthur Winslow is one of the great parts.

- Roger Rees

Great, Arthur, Parts

I'm astonished to say, but people are really pleased to hear what happened to me, the way I got a little bit more confident, the people I've met, and the things I didn't know.

- Roger Rees

Confident, Say, More, Pleased

I usually played comic lovers or losers - weak, ineffectual men.

- Roger Rees

Men, Losers, Played, Comic

I've always thought like I'm really a 3-feet-high comic trapped in a leading man's body... but then I played Nicholas Nickleby, and suddenly I was heroic.

- Roger Rees

Thought, Trapped, Always, Comic

So, suddenly I was an actor. I don't remember being nervous. I learned to be nervous later.

- Roger Rees

Remember, Actor, Later, Suddenly

There's something very fine and lucid and rich in this tradition of the English actor.

- Roger Rees

Actor, Fine, Very, Tradition

In Tom Cone's work nothing is easy.

- Roger Rees

Work, Nothing, Tom, Cone

I was a skinny 17-year-old.

- Roger Rees

Skinny

Nothing in the world in perfect. Even a still photograph.

- Roger Rees

World, Perfect, Still, Photograph

I'm really interested in the form, putting one piece up against another and finding something corroborative in another voice. I've done a lot of that.

- Roger Rees

Voice, Against, Putting, Finding

If you live in the States, you have to join a gym.

- Roger Rees

Live, You, Join, Gym

I do one thing Gielgud didn't: I play the ukulele.

- Roger Rees

Play, One Thing, Thing, Ukulele

More people saw me in one episode of 'Cheers' than would ever see me in a play.

- Roger Rees

Play, More, More People, Episode

Television is an important part of how we communicate.

- Roger Rees

Important, Communicate, How, Important Part

That's been the tragedy of my life, actually. I've always looked younger than I am.

- Roger Rees

My Life, Always, Been, Tragedy

It's a vain craft, acting.

- Roger Rees

Acting, Vain, Craft

All this thing that L.A. doesn't have any love for the theater isn't true.

- Roger Rees

Love, True, Thing, Theater

Mostly, theater becomes blander and blander as everyone wants the same thing they saw before. The good plays are the ones that don't allow you to do that.

- Roger Rees

Allow, Mostly, Plays, Theater

In the Victorian age, actors played Romeo until they were 60 or 70 years old.

- Roger Rees

Old, Romeo, Were, Victorian

Anything I do is as theatrical as I can get it.

- Roger Rees

Anything, I Can, Get, Theatrical

Rattigan wrote some very good plays.

- Roger Rees

Some, Very, Wrote, Plays

I was at a pretty rough school, and the only thing I was good at was art.

- Roger Rees

Art, School, Pretty, Rough

I used to be the voice of Virgin Atlantic in America, and some people only know me for that.

- Roger Rees

Voice, Some, Only, Atlantic

I wish I'd played Coriolanus.

- Roger Rees

Wish, Played, I Wish

I love to see people blossom.

- Roger Rees

Love, See, I Love, Blossom

History is with us until we learn from the suffering of the past.

- Roger Rees

Past, Learn, Until, Suffering

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