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The Power of Imagination — Onstage and Off | Suki Hillier | TED

When professional child actor Suki Hillier landed the title role in “Matilda The Musical,” she thought she would have to learn how to become someone else. Instead, she realized she had known the role since she was three, when she playfully tried to move objects with her mind the way Matilda does. In this joyful…

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When professional child actor Suki Hillier landed the title role in “Matilda The Musical,” she thought she would have to learn how to become someone else. Instead, she realized she had known the role since she was three, when she playfully tried to move objects with her mind the way Matilda does. In this joyful talk, she reveals the similarities between the stage and life — because imagination isn’t about escaping the world. It’s a way of building one. (Recorded at Play@TED on May 14, 2026)

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#TED #TEDTalks #Theater

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29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. @Eathercommercial

    August 18, 2026 at 11:31 am

    ❤️

  2. @Abyglow

    August 18, 2026 at 11:34 am

    Firstt🎉

  3. @Mali_abhay

    August 18, 2026 at 11:35 am

    Imagination life is your creation 💕

  4. @venator3301

    August 18, 2026 at 11:38 am

    The world doesn’t change – people do

  5. @storieswithanita1

    August 18, 2026 at 11:40 am

    Thank you

  6. @everythingishere3874

    August 18, 2026 at 11:47 am

    I want to be a football coach in europe and i know I can do even I come from Nepal and one day I will return here and be football coach

  7. @Boomerangbone

    August 18, 2026 at 2:08 pm

    Just here to check in and make sure everyone knows Ted platformed the mother of the Columbine shooter who gave a remarkably disgusting talk denying any bit of responsibility. Rest In Peace to the victims. Shame on this youtube channel for locking comments on that video, let alone having the audacity to publish it or even think having her speak is a reasonable thing to do.

    • @David-bl5ug

      August 18, 2026 at 8:18 pm

      She’s not the one who killed those kids. Her son was.

    • @Boomerangbone

      August 19, 2026 at 12:52 am

      @David-bl5ug you’re a bot

  8. @Onionbaron

    August 18, 2026 at 2:20 pm

    Books enhance your own imagination, visual media the opposite, and just tapping in on someone else imagination, and that is the fastest way to lose your own!

  9. @xThunderOUx

    August 18, 2026 at 3:31 pm

    Hermoine Granger?

  10. @savageoldman

    August 18, 2026 at 3:43 pm

    If this is not ai, I’m shocked.

  11. @Jasonxbr

    August 18, 2026 at 4:42 pm

    Stay as a child please- being a adult isn’t great- your innocence- the power of imagination- free will- is bestow in your inner heart ♥️ ❤️ 💓 💖 💔 💛 ♥️ ❤️ 💓 💖 💔

    • @KenTheAdventurer

      August 19, 2026 at 5:47 am

      Or she’s more like the person we need to become an adult in the future

  12. @ParkourChildhood

    August 18, 2026 at 6:28 pm

    This was a hard watch and felt forced, mum doing way to much.

  13. @drumbum3.142

    August 18, 2026 at 7:04 pm

    – There are Times when Fiction possesses Snapshots, Nuances, Scripts, Screengrabs, Lessons, and Details that are more Precious than what one finds in Non-fiction. 🎭

  14. @gariyas

    August 18, 2026 at 8:08 pm

    Only the ancients are capable of true image, imago, and imagination (of the universe).

    The creative power of the mind pertaining to the imagination is the exclusive property of the ancients. – Giacomo Leopardi

  15. @bocahgemblung12

    August 19, 2026 at 4:05 am

    aksen mana yang digunakan anak tersebut?

  16. @张楼

    August 19, 2026 at 4:46 am

    She is just another her. 🤣 The world is really a cycle. You will always find something familar in old times.

  17. @haebaee

    August 19, 2026 at 5:53 am

    she looks like IU (Korean’s singer)

  18. @what-t7o

    August 19, 2026 at 9:30 am

    who wants a followback?

  19. @konradkudzia28

    August 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm

    Trying to speak about imagination by performing rehersed script reading… well done…

    • @think32

      August 20, 2026 at 4:41 am

      It’s wild how some people are so negative. And to a kid, who I think did a great job. Why are you such a chode?

  20. @JeffreyWalker-j4r

    August 19, 2026 at 12:45 pm

    Okay TED. The only planet life can possibly exist on… with no other intelligent life present, and the” intelligent “life that does inhabit the planet is polluting it… accept it TED, humans are foolish. Too much truth?

  21. @RiffatAlam-x8w

    August 19, 2026 at 1:47 pm

    I took Clara Hartley’s anxiety quiz after seeing several people discuss their results. I wouldn’t say a quiz can explain everything about someone, obviously, but it did point out a few patterns I hadn’t really connected before. That was probably the most interesting part for me.

  22. @ginatyra8451

    August 19, 2026 at 10:49 pm

    This is why she’s starring in that role. She has that presence!

  23. @think32

    August 20, 2026 at 4:43 am

    Great job Suki Hillier! Mathilda is one of my favorite musicals. And congrats on getting the role; that’s quite an accomplishment and super inspiring!

  24. @JuvankaAyuna-f3p

    August 20, 2026 at 7:32 am

    It’s a good story

  25. @MehjabinPriya-e8f

    August 21, 2026 at 5:02 am

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