Kim Stanley: A Truthful Actor

Interview with Kim Stanley

Conducted by James Grissom

Via Telephone

1991

This is not a polite profession, a pastime, a little something to do until the kids get home or the husband is ready to show you some attention: This is the study of--the excavation of-- the human condition, and I'm getting tired of the passersby who come into the scene and foul up the air with their inane posturings. There are, I assure you, easier ways to get famous than being a truthful actor, and so you become a performer, a clown, a mime of the mundane. I don't have classes for people who want to make a splash; avenge a wrong; come to some understanding of their teenage acne; improve their posture or their voice. I am here to understand the whole line of humanity, which can only be done in the study of history, of literature, of art, and we place ourselves, fearlessly and with little initial hope of worth, in that timeline. We become what Tennessee [Williams] called a witness to those before us. If we are blessed with talent and courage, we may become good witnesses. It will not be an easy task. It's a task that can tear you up.

© 2015 James Grissom