Simon Callow quotes

Simon Callow is an English actor, director, and writer, celebrated for his work on both stage and screen. His performances span classical theatre, film, and television, earning him critical acclaim and a devoted following. He has also authored several books and is recognized as a prominent figure in British cultural life. Here are 24 of his quotes:

The elderly are all someone's flesh and blood and we cannot just shut them in a cupboard and hand over the responsibility for taking care of them to the state. (Simon Callow)
Childhood didn't have a big influence on me, really - in fact I spent most of it plotting how to escape. View quote
Simon Callow
Many actors have protested about mobile phones going off in theatres, but the real menace now is people texting during a show. It may only disturb a few people around them, but for me, as an actor, when I spot them answering their emails, I am outraged. View quote
Simon Callow
Shakespeare wrote all there is that we need to know about dementia in 'King Lear.' View quote
Simon Callow
When children have grieving parents it's also common for them to feel an obligation to cheer them up and make them happy. View quote
Simon Callow
My mother wanted me to be a teacher. She had this vision of me walking across the quadrangle in an Oxford college wearing my academic gown. View quote
Simon Callow
When the BBC decided to bring Doctor Who back as a feature film a few years ago, one national newspaper ran a poll to ask its readers who should be the new Doctor, and I topped it. View quote
Simon Callow
Having caught a glimpse of what I might be able to do with my talent, I feel a tremendous obligation to try to fulfill it. View quote
Simon Callow
Like many Catholics, I was very affected by the personality of Jesus and that impression, pious as it was, has stayed with me. View quote
Simon Callow
I hated Sundays when I was growing up in Streatham, south London. Everything closed down and stopped. View quote
Simon Callow
Shakespeare speaks for the human heart but Dickens speaks for the social man and for injustices. (Simon Callow)
Everything that we have gone through, are going through, and will go through is there in Shakespeare. It is all of human life. View quote
Simon Callow
I love storytelling and I love just relating directly to an audience. That's why we do theatre, it's because we love contact with the audience. We love the fact that the audience will change us. The way the audience responds makes us change our performance. View quote
Simon Callow
To live another person's life is quite a weird thing. View quote
Simon Callow
You could say Shakespeare is so extraordinary precisely because he was so ordinary. He had all the usual anxieties and understandings of what it is to have children, lose children, get married, struggle to make a living and so on. View quote
Simon Callow
I've come to this conclusion: What makes a great actor is great need. A huge need of acting. View quote
Simon Callow
Jesus is absolutely at the centre of Western civilisation and part of my fascination with him is, why? What is it about this particular man and his story? View quote
Simon Callow
There is something essentially sanguine about me, which I am inclined to attribute to the fact that I was born by caesarean section. It must affect you. View quote
Simon Callow
Artists probably should have some impenetrable aspects of themselves. View quote
Simon Callow
I'd like to direct more operas. View quote
Simon Callow
I am never bored, never short of anything to do and I don't even ever feel lonely. I am quite gregarious and I get out and about a lot, but sometimes it is just wonderful to be on your own. (Simon Callow)
Increasingly I've come to think that what's at the core of acting is thinking. Most people would say it's feeling. View quote
Simon Callow
I went to Queen's University Belfast and stayed nine months, then I ran away to be an actor. View quote
Simon Callow
I would say critically of myself that I am somebody without secrets. Sometimes acting depends on you having a secret. I don't think I've ever had that. View quote
Simon Callow

Simon Callow

Simon Callow - Image
Photo: Ash, CC BY-SA 3.0
Occupation: English Actor
Born: June 15, 1949
Quotes count: 24