Derision and contempt are sprayed at actors from time to time Much of this disdain is fuelled by the actors themselves when theyre compelled by their filmtheatre companies to talk about their craft and themselves in interviews They should give the dancer Pavlovas reply to the man who asked her what she meant when she was dancing If I could tell you she said I wouldnt dance it But instead they all too easily fall into ponderous cliches silly truisms or into the prurient jaws of the gossip machine We should all pay heed to what Paul Scofield said in a letter to a friend of mine I have found that an actors work has life and interest only in its execution It seems to wither away in discussion and become emptily theoretical and insubstantial It has no rules except perhaps audibility With every play and every playwright the actor starts from scratch as if he or she knows nothing and proceeds to learn afresh every time growing with the relationships of the characters and the insights of the writer When the play has finished its run hes empty until the next time And its the emptiness which is I find apparent in any discussion of theatre work