The Script Is Sacred

I’m a very structured actor. I like to have the whole script in front of me before I shoot. I like it solid and I like to stick to it. (Some directors work without a script, but I don’t think they’re very good.) You can put the best actors and the best directors in the world out there, but they’re nothing without the written word. The script is sacred. I don’t improvise, because the writers write better than I do. So my first instinct is to leave the script exactly like it is. Actors like to tinker because it's easier that way. If they don't understand it the way it's written, they assume they know better than the writer. But the writer has a point of view that the actor does not. He’s looking at the whole picture, not just one character.

JAMES GARNER