I don't want to be a star. If you have to label me anything, I'm an
actor - I guess. A journeyman actor. I think "star" is what you call
actors who can't act.
A writer can write in an attic, or on top of a bus. Or with a sharp
stick in some wet cement. To act, an actor has to have words. A stage.
a camera turning. I can't go into the middle of Times Square, stop
traffic and start acting.
I won't go up in a plane, but if a play crashes, I'll jump into the
next one that comes along and take it up for a spin.
I've never tried to learn the art of acting. I have been in the
business for years but I still can't tell what acting is or how it's
done.
[on Robert Donat's performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)] The most magnificent performance
I've ever seen on any screen. Not a false motion - not a wasted
gesture. He is the greatest actor we have today.