I’m leaving the screen because I don’t think I am very good in the pictures and I have this beautiful dream that I’m elegant on the stage.

Hayes contrasts the camera’s unforgiving literalism with the theater’s capacity for transformation. The “screen” suggests a medium that fixes performance into a permanent, scrutinizable image; her self-judgment—“I don’t think I am very good in the pictures”—implies that film emphasizes qualities (photogenic presence, subtlety calibrated for close-up) she felt did not flatter her strengths. The “beautiful dream” of being “elegant on the stage” points to theater as an imaginative space where an actor can project poise and grandeur through voice, movement, and live rapport. The quote also reflects an artist’s desire to choose the arena that best matches her craft and self-conception, even if that choice is shaped by insecurity as much as by ambition.