Alan Alda: The 87-Year-Old Legend on M*A*S*H, The West Wing, and Building Chemistry Using Humor and Brutal Honesty
The Great Creators with Guy Raz
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The Importance of Playing a Hero
When you're acting, you are the guy. You allow yourself to be everything that he is. Even if it's a villain, you get to do things that won't let you do in real life when you play a villain. I mean, it wouldn't be socially acceptable for me to string a guy up and torture him, but I've done that as a villain. And it's all play. It's not that hard to do if you give yourself the permission to do it. But what's awful is to be stuck in a vicious cycle where you wind up saying to yourself, "I'm not really this"
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