Greetings from Sunny Sarasota! I’ve just ended my second week of rehearsal and I’m pleased to report that the play is going extremely well.
Working out in the field again really brings home many of the lessons I try to impart in my capacity as a career coach back in the studio. I’m sure I’ll be reminded of many of those lessons while I’m here and I’ll mention them as they come up, but the one I want to focus on the most today is the importance of a process.
As a professional actor you are essentially on your own (this is especially true if you want to work in film and television). You cannot depend on input from others, even the director, to help you develop your performance. This is even true in the theater despite rehearsals. Three weeks might sound like alot of rehearsal before it starts but you will be very surprised how little of that time actually gets used specifically to help you solve your challenges.
The only way you can excel is to have a powerful, tested-and-proven personal process to bring to the table. It sounds simple but I assure you it is not. Every time I have worked professionally I have had to collaborate with persons that have not yet developed a process. Instead, these persons have usually developed a highly successful pattern of making excuses (and usually have something highly marketable about them, such as a look, which is how they keep getting jobs). They will blame their mediocre work on everything and anything– the low pay, the rehearsal schedule, their scene partner, the language of the script, the director, problems in their personal life, etc. etc.
Don’t be this guy. If you don’t have a process yet you know what to do– get into a good class. If you do have a process then make sure to use it when you work professionally. Don’t let less-than-sterling working conditions or the gripes of your less-focused cast members get in the way of your craft.
Ultimately, it’s your butt up on that stage or in front of that camera. You can make all the excuses you want, but if at the end of the day your performance isn’t good the only one that will look bad is you.
Do the work! And if you don’t know how, learn!
