“Be the Dumbest Guy in the Room”
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.
I’ve done a fair amount of work, and I do have some modest skills, so it’s rare for me to be the absolute least talented person around, but even so, I’m always looking for somebody to take notes from. It could be the camera operator with a suggestion to lean back slightly to catch my key light better. It could be the sound mixer. A costumer once told me to sit on the tails of my jacket so it would create a more flattering line across my shoulders. It did.
When you stop growing and learning, you’re dead, as an actor, and as a person. So, whoever it may be, look for somebody who knows more than you do. Believe me, they’re always there. The day I find myself in a room full of these people, I’ll have arrived. Until then, I’ll keep looking for them.
For the Mineralava Musings, this is Edoardo Ballerini.
What’s that old saying? “The fool thinks he is wise, but the wise man knows he is a fool.” And knowing that, the wise man would see this the way you do. Wait… that makes you wise… but you just said you’d rather be dumb… see, this is harder than it looks!
Whatever you do, if you’re ever somewhere that you’re going to get assigned into groups, do NOT look around and mentally pick out who you hope you don’t end up with… because then you will end up with every single one of them, and you won’t be able to explain why you look annoyed but are laughing. Don’t ask me how I know this. (!)