Paradox of the Actor

Paradox of the Actor (French: Paradoxe sur le comédien) is a dramatic essay by French writer Denis Diderot. It was written between 1770 and 1778 but first published after the death of the author in 1830. The work elucidates a theory of acting in which it is argued that great actors do not experience the emotions they are displaying.

His theory was further developed by Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski as the art of representation. It contradicts the view of Horace with regard to the use of emotion in rhetoric: Si vis me flere, primium tibi flendum est (If you wish me to weep you must first weep yourself),^[1] itself further developed as the Stanislavski's system and method acting.