Marian Seldes: Crafting Your Foundation




Interview with Marian Seldes
Conducted by James Grissom
NYC
2003


I had a teacher who felt I had a good mind, and she feared that my good mind would go to waste as an actress, waiting for the phone to ring and a part to be offered. I wish I could tell her and show her that my mind--good or not--is always in use to make myself a better person and actress. I don't wait for the phone to ring: I wake up every day prepared to be offered a role. I'm ready.

We craft a foundation for our lives each and every day. We feed our minds and our bodies and our hearts to accept whatever comes, in whatever profession. I'm afraid I won't learn or love enough in my life, so I'm obsessed with time, with how it's used. I want to see and learn and see everything, because so many things I'll see will find their way into my work and into my life. I know that lessons learned from plays and books have made me a better mother and friend.

I realize now, at an advanced age, that I have spent more creative and useful time crafting the foundation for my life as an actress than I have used actually being on the stage. And it was rich and wonderful work.



©  2017  James Grissom

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