The gifted theatre director Gordon Edelstein explained to me once, in the midst of directing a play of my own, that what looks to us like temperament is invariably terror—the actor is being a diva because of some fundamental fear he or she feels in the face of what they’re asked to do. Don’t lose your temper at the temperament, he explained to me: find the fear. […]

The egocentrism of actors is a form of perpetual self-tuning, since to be a performer is to be exposed in a way that no other artist is.

Adam Gopnik, “Writer Adam Gopnik on His Surprise Cameo Opposite Cate Blanchett in Tár”