Alfred Hitchcock on Acting

“Alfred Hitchcock: You know that I think all actors are cattle? George Raft: Yes, I know—but I'm no actor.”

“I was more intolerant in the days when I said actors were cattle and the director was the herder. Today I prefer to say actors are children and the wise director treats them that way.”

“Actors are cattle. I've always said actors are cattle. In fact, Carole Lombard once built a corral on set and put three live calves into it, in recognition of my feelings. I tell them that, and treat them as such, and we get along fineǃ”

“Then there is a dreadful story that I hate actors. Imagine anyone hating Jimmy Stewart or Jack, last of the Warner Brothers. I cannot imagine how such a rumor began, though it may possibly be because I was once quoted as saying that actors are cattle. My actor friends know that I would never be capable of such a thoughtless, rude and unfeeling remark. What I probably said was that actors should be treated as cattle.”

“[T]he director passed off the phrase as one of his "Machiavellian quips," not to be taken seriously. "Let us say, rather, that actors are a necessary evil," he cautioned, with a straight face. "As a matter of fact, I couldn't work if I weren't on friendly terms with them; I'll bend over backward every time. Besides, I get into each picture I make, if only for a couple of seconds—so I'm probably a frustrated actor at heart myself."”