A woman I worked with some time ago told me that in order for me to make massive changes in my life, I would have to change myself by about two percent. Surely, she’s mad, I thought. What’s needed here is a full out 180 degree turnaround, a 100% re-imagining of who and what I am. Anything short of that is going to fall short of the mark. Read more…
Okay, so you’re an actor. Which means, to some degree, you crave a spotlight. You chose the stage and screen over decades of indulgent therapy, or worse, you’re doing both, in which case you probably can’t be saved. (If that’s the case, I feel a bit sorry for those around you.)
I witnessed a stunning display of acting douchebaggery that made Narcissus seem like Christ on the cross. While getting high praise on a scene, it was indeed very good, mind you, an actor was disturbed that there was noise going on behind him and that he wasn’t getting total silence for his grand review. The noise, it should be noted, was other actors setting up for the next scene. That’s how these things go. We share time and space. Read more…
If I have a regret in my professional life it’s that I didn’t get a degree in theatre. Countless people have done fine without it, of course, but I would have benefitted from it. I’ve studied, and have returned to doing so, but there’s something to enrolling in a program that teaches you everything from voice to fencing to working with text, and makes you sweat it out for a few years exclusively. Read more…
Before you get the wrong idea, no, I haven’t been fired from anything, nor am I firing anybody. I was fired from a play once, but that was years ago. To this day I have no idea why. I’d been to rehearsal, all seemed fine, I get home, and there’s a message on my answering machine telling me not to come back. It was bewildering, but it taught me an early lesson in they why’s and how’s of this business. There are none. Read more…
The best thing to be on set is the least talented person. If that sounds horrible, try this angle: by being the least talented person, assuming you have some basic skills and awareness, you will be forced to raise your game to a new level. A challenge surely awaits, and nothing is better for creative growth than a stiff challenge. Nothing. Read more…
Let’s cut to the chase. The title of the above musical may be catchy, but it won’t work. There are some pretty staggering statistics about actors “making it,” or more to the point, “not making it.” It’s an industry that makes the restaurant business seem like a sound investment. And there’s a lot more than goes into an acting career than looking pretty and hoping for the best. The Lana Turner/Schwab’s Pharmacy approach is about as good a professional strategy as “shock and awe.” Read more…
This is a line from a Robert Frost poem, and I never understood it until yesterday. Well, I’ve given it some meaning in the hopes of barking forwards. Chew on that…
If you’re anything like me, a bad thing happening causes about ten times as much anxiety as a good thing happening causes pleasure. It’s evolutionary, I know. It is far more important that we guard against threats (“Hey, is that a brontosaurus in behind that rock?”) than we relish enjoyment (“Boy, the sun sure feels good outside my cave.”) You miss the threat, you die. You miss the bliss, you still live. ’Nuff said. Read more…
Last Saturday I saw a wonderful performance of “Measure for Measure.” I took special note of a gentleman playing a certain part as he seemed especially refined, the kind of man I’d like to be when I go gray. In the waiting area of a commercial casting office this morning, I saw him again. He was still refined, head held high, but if he was there for the same thing I was – there were multiple parts – he was about to do something very, very silly. It’s a fun spot, don’t get me wrong, but it’s silly. Read more…
Last summer I did a film in which I had to deliver speeches to crowds. And every time after filming, I nearly lost my voice, which caused me no end of embarrassment. How can a professional actor not know how to support his voice for two days? It was another reminder that I had gotten off-track in nearly every aspect of my life. Read more…
