American - Actress | September 18, 1950 -
I don't talk a lot when I interview. My job is to get out of the way.
Anna Deavere Smith
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I love studying how people are. Not just what they're saying, but how they are, what they're doing.
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My work is about giving voice to the unheard, and reiterating the voice of the heard in such a way that you question, or re-examine, what is the truth.
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To live your life well, and have respect for what came before or after - there's a strong respect for that in African culture.
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I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment.
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People who are sick, or who have been sick, or have come close to death have a lot to say - and they want you to hear it.
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I see myself as not a typical theater person, but a person who uses the theater as a place to meet people and explore ideas.
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Artists are the people that no matter what, pick up the pen, pick up a paintbrush. They take the time to translate what is happening to create something that resonates deeply with the rest of the people that are caught in the middle of their own reality.
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I mean, I think that - as an actress, in particular, I'm basically a fool, and I see the world upside down.
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You know, real artists, we expose our flaws. We long for intimacy.
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Making your life is ultimately an extraordinarily creative endeavor.
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Racism has been for everyone like a horrible, tragic car crash, and we've all been heavily sedated from it. If we don't come into consciousness of this tragedy, there's going to be a violent awakening we don't want. The question is, can we wake up?
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