An Actor's Heart Holds All Things

Actors come to acting for many different reasons. Some want to find an outlet for expression, some wish for fame, many want to feel more alive, and some actors come to acting because they desperately want to play someone other than themselves. They show up in class hoping to get as far away from themselves as they can by stepping into the shoes of a character. They think that this is what will save them. This is how they can escape their own life. However, once immersed in the actual work of learning to act they discover that in order to do it well they must become more fully who they are. They must become familiar and intimate with their own pain, with their own joy, with their own fears, sorrows, tenderness, humor, playfulness, and wisdom. They must do this in order to fully understand the experiences of all humans and to tell these human stories in an honest authentic way. 

All humans experience emotional pain. There are small ‘everyday’ sufferings in our Western culture such as being late to an important meeting or accidentally dropping your cell phone in the toilet or not being booked on the job you’ve been on hold for. And then of course there are the big ones like a bad breakup or the death of a loved one or a prolonged illness. We all experience both small and big sufferings. In this way we are all connected. We often think we’re the only one when we’re in the midst of our conflict, but our pain is shared pain and our joys are shared joys. As actors we must become intimate with these moments of suffering and also with our moments of happiness. We must be willing to open up to ourselves, to know ourselves in deeper ways in order to know others. We must be willing to be vulnerable and exposed - and this takes being very brave. We must let down our guards, take off our masks, and allow our hearts to be soft enough to be affected by the moment we are in. By doing this courageous work we learn to be present to the pain others, to truly empathize with the wounds of other people, to feel what they feel, to live in their shoes, to celebrate with them, and to grieve with them. This kind of deep inner exploration can make you into a transformative storyteller.

Mindfulness and the practice of meditation is the safest (and also perhaps the scariest) path I know to do this exploration. Consistent meditation practice teaches us to become intimate with our thoughts and all the sneaky ways we judge ourselves. It helps us to know ourselves deeply and to make friends with who we are, even the parts we despise. It softens our hearts and also builds resilency at the same time. We come to understand our own human condition with all of it’s foibles, upsets, and complaints, as well as all the fleeting moments of happiness, wonder, and beauty. We become comfortable with uncertainty and change - something an actor has to deal with on an almost daily basis. And then we are taught, in this silent practice, to develop great empathy as well as a light sense of humor as we extend compassion to ourselves and to others experiencing this same curious human condition. Meditation teaches us to connect to all of life by stretching, softening, and ultimately strengthening our hearts so that we can hold all things. It helps us become more of who we really are and in this way we can more truthfully embody the stories of others. 

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10 Simple Action Steps for Frustrated Actors

Have you been feeling anxious or frustrated about your acting career?  Maybe you haven’t heard from your agent in a while or maybe you’ve been going on auditions, but haven’t received any callbacks or bookings lately.  The rejection we feel as actors can weigh heavy on our hearts and play games with our head.  We may begin to doubt our abilities and wonder if we’re good enough or whether we should even be doing this.  We also fear that our agent will lose faith in us, we’ll disappoint our families, we won’t be able to pay our rent, we’ll not have anything to talk about at that industry gathering next week…and so on.  All of these thoughts and feelings can overwhelm us to the point of feeling totally anxiety-ridden or even depressed. Here’s what I recommend you do right now (or the next time you feel like running back to the safety of your old miserable desk job):  Take out a pen and a pad of paper.  Write down 5 simple things you can do this week to help your acting career.  They may seem like small things, but taking any action toward your dream will help you feel more in control of your career and lighten the burden in your heart and mind.

Here are 10 Simple Action Step Ideas:   

1.     Send a thank you note.  To your agent thanking her for her dedication, or a casting director who gave you some pointers the last time you auditioned, or an acting teacher who paved a path for you, or heck, even your mom, dad, or aunt who always encouraged you to pursue your dreams.  Sending out a note of gratitude will automatically lift your spirits.  And remember, what we send out we receive back in kind. 

2.     Book a photo session.  Been needing new headshots for a while?  Look at your calendar, pick up the phone, and make an appointment.  Money an issue?  Start saving some money every week until you have enough to pay for them. 

3.     Clean up your résumé.  As we gain more experience we tend to clutter up our résumés with every little thing we’ve ever done: every student film, every workshop we’ve ever taken, even background jobs.  Now if you don’t have much experience you need to make the most of it for sure, but remember that your résumé is a marketing tool, put your best stuff first even if it was a few years ago and make it easy to read for a CD or director.  A little white space can be a good thing.  You need to leave room for what’s next! 

4.     Go for a jog or to the gym.  Get some exercise.  The endorphins alone will make you feel better and you can go to bed tonight knowing you did something good for your body and your acting career. 

5.     Sign up for a class or workshop.  It’s amazing what being in class with a room full of like-minded people who also love acting can do to lift your spirits and get you up and working. It’s a chance to perform and do what you love with the added bonus of constructive feedback so you can improve.

6.     Send your headshot and resume with a simple note or cover letter to a casting director or theatre company you haven’t read for in a while.

7.     Call or text an actor friend and make plans to see a film or play you want to check out and then go out afterward to talk about it.  As artists we need inspiration, we need to surround ourselves with fellow artists and with our art.  Witnessing good work reminds us of what is possible and motivates us to get to work ourselves.  (If witnessing good work depresses you because you aren’t working, read my blog post on jealousy, all you need is a new perspective). 

8.     Find and work on a new monologue.  Even if you are mostly an on-camera actor, having a couple good monologues in your arsenal is not only a good idea, it’s necessary for certain auditions.

9.     Do some online networking.  Find some acting groups (even in other cities) to connect with, see what people are up to, make some connections and let people in the industry know what you want to be doing.  Putting yourself out there can be scary, but in my experience it tends to open some windows if not doors.

10.     Do some visualization work.  Imagine yourself doing exactly what you want to be doing.  See yourself playing that dream part. Take yourself through your ideal day as a working actor.  You can go there in your mind for free, anytime you want.  We underestimate the power of the mind, but everything that has ever been made or achieved by human beings started in the imagination; from the 4-minute mile to Google to the chair you are sitting on.  You can achieve great things too!      

Now pick one thing to do today.  And do one thing each day for the rest of this week and watch your frustration dissolve as you take charge of the things you do have control over.  Post the words of William Arthur Ward, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it!" 

Jealousy is Just a Map

Jealousy keeps us in a rigid bitter place.  It cuts off our creative channel and compresses us into a very self-focused depressing perspective.  Who wants to live like that?!  Unfortunately I know jealousy well.  She and I have curled up together in the fetal position on the floor lamenting about what everybody else gets to do except for me.  I have spent many years as a blocked creative staring at the joys of other people’s creations and feeling horrible for not being where they are.  Add to that the guilt and self-hatred for feeling that way, after all, jealousy seems so frickin’ petty!  But here’s the truth to sooth your soul: jealousy is really just a road map.

                     "Map of Fuzhou City" by Toby Simkin used under CC BY 2.0 added text "Jealousy" from original 

The only reason you feel jealous is because you know you have it in you to do whatever it is you want to be doing.  The jealousy map is pointed in the direction where you see other creative people having fun doing what you want to be doing.  And the only reason you are not doing it yourself is because you’re blocked.  Not because you’re lazy, not because you procrastinate, not because you’re a loser, not because you’re not wanted…all of these tormenting thoughts are because you are blocked creatively, not because they are true.  So how do you get unblocked?

Dismantling the Block – Imagine an actual wall or roadblock built out of rocks and logs and debris.  If you were going to remove the roadblock so you could continue on your merry way, how would you go about it?  First you’ve got to look at it. You can’t pretend its not there, you’ve got to see it for what it is.  A roadblock.  Okay, what’s it made of?  That nasty thing your Sunday school teacher told you about your singing voice?  Not feeling supported or encouraged by your parents to pursue your creative goals?  A “friend” you trusted who shot down your great idea?  FYI: this isn’t placing blame, this is seeing.  You’ve got to see it to free it.  

Write it down, make a list, journal the hell out of it, speak it out loud to a trusted friend, scream it into your pillow, whatever you need to do to get it out of your body and somewhere else so it doesn’t belong to you anymore.  This is the process of dismantling.  

Now write some affirmations.  Here are some examples: I am a bright creative being.  I free myself to create.  I love myself back onto my creative path. I have so much fun creating what I love…you get the picture.  Make them up for yourself so they carry more meaning and power for you.  Post them where you will see them.  This is the process of putting on sturdy boots to continue the journey you want to take.  

                                                   "Path at Dohles Rocks" by Len  Matthews used under CC BY 2.0

Now, start taking some action.  Any action.  Go for a walk with your camera and take some pictures.  Sign up for an acting or improv class.  Take a dance lesson or just turn on some loud music and dance around your house.  Get together with some friends to see a movie.  Update your blog (hehe). Here’s the key: do the action with the intention that you are healing your inner creative artist and moving forward on your creative path.  That way it feels like a step forward in the direction of your dreams...because it is!  

You may not be accepting your Oscar tonight, but you have gotten up off the floor and taken a step forward instead of laying in the fetal position watching everyone else have all the fun.  You deserve to have fun too, so throw yourself a party honey!  Make some fun happen no matter what it is!  The Universe responds to fun and to action.  Use your jealousy as a road map to save yourself, the whole world is waiting for you! 

Don't Play a Nun

Don’t Play a Nun

This past weekend I gave a student in my workshop a scene from the screenplay, Doubt.  It is a 3-person scene and all three actors assigned to it are talented, driven performers.   The actress reading Sister Aloysius, the older nun, was very precise and her intention was clear, but she was so formal in her read that it seemed she was “playing a nun” or what her idea of a nun would be like, sound like, act like.  I asked her to drop the “sister act” and just use herself within these imaginary circumstances.   She knew exactly what I meant and read the scene again giving the character all of her own humanity.  It was engaged, passionate, conflicted, and super fun to watch.   She made her own discovery in our discussion afterward that the costume itself (if she was hired to play this role) would be enough to indicate “nun” and that she didn’t have to help sell it in the scene.  Exactly!

I believe it is always best to start with what you know and to use yourself.  Of course part of the fun of shaping a character is playing with physicality, voice, mannerisms, etc., but I believe those things come after you connect with the humanity of the character.  Start out playing the scene as you in the circumstances so you can really feel and understand the heart of the character and then begin playing with the outer layers to shape and form the differences between you.  

Do you feel like you step into the shoes of a character right away or do you work from the inside out? Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments below!