Diderot maintained that masterful acting must not include emotional involvement on the part of the actor. This style of acting, reliant on physical technique over emotional truth, was still much in vogue in the late 19th century, particularly in France. The Paradoxe was also the subject of an ongoing debate between Henry Irving, Britain’s most prominent actor, and Benoît-Constant Coquelin, who was the leading actor of the Comedié Française.
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