Celebrate Acting Breakthroughs – Both Financial and Personal

One of the many challenges we face as actors is trusting ourselves. Regardless of what you might think, we are constantly evolving as humans and as actors. What that means is that even if you’re not actively studying with a coach/teacher, you are probably getting better if you are staying in the game and at least auditioning from time to time.
You might not be booking more jobs but you have to recognize that being good and booking can be mutually exclusive, meaning you can be at your best and not book diddly…which kind of sucks, but regardless of the validation you are getting from others, you have to validate yourself and recognize that you are becoming more and more worthy of booking jobs, when you actually do.

Why must you recognize your own improvements, despite no increased successes? Because this business (and many others) is all about confidence, and knowing you are good, gives you more reason to put yourself out there and get others to see your bad self. I haven’t booked a job in a while and the auditions are getting a little sparse, so there’s reason to question myself…maybe I’m not that good, maybe I’m getting worse, maybe whatever. But I’m always on the path of constant improvement and every audition I get is an opportunity to try something new…usually a new viewpoint from which to perform.

Acting is done best when you are least self-conscious and behaving from a place that is completely in instinctual or “In the zone” as it is often called, meaning you are not really in control of what you are doing, but you are acting on pure instinct. When you ‘let go’, you are free to do so many more things while completely concentrating on what is happening. Once you know what you want and set it…then forget it! For instance, watch someone talking to a friend. You will see them doing all kinds of things that they are not even thinking about, while holding a fully present conversation. They might play with their hair, they ajdust their stance, look at an attractive person walking by, etc. It is amazing how much multi-tasking the human being is capable of without even trying. Rarely to people stand eyeball to eyeball in full attention of each other and nothing else. Usually that type of singular concentration is reserved for emgergencies (real or self-induced).

I bring this up because I recently did two of the best auditions I’ve ever done recently and (as of this writing) I did not book them. Am I disappointed? Well, a little, since that is my ‘real world’ objective. But there is no discounting the big picture reality that I’m becoming a better actor so the more opportunities I get, the more likely I will be to booking them. Confidence in myself inspires other’s confidence in me…it’s one of those cycles that works in our favor.

I’m getting to the point where I am acting on instinct. I know this is true because sometimes I get caught up with what I’m doing and forget my lines. I’m tempted to improvise but the reader is probably not going to know what to do, so when I go up, I just laugh and start again. Laughter is the best remedy in any audition room. I have to say that it feels really good when I sit there comfortably and not nervously and actually engage completely and allow things to flow like a real conversation. It’s getting easier and easier. That also keeps me interested in acting since the few opportunities we get can be a tempting reason to quit, but knowing that I’m still getting better makes me want to see what is going to happen at the next one.

It is crucial to never quit something that you really want to do because you never know when success will arrive. If something comes along that you like more, by all means switch directions, but giving yourself a limited timetable for success, limits your potential for success. Keep plugging away, and try to take pleasure in the most boring aspects of your career, because they are likely the most important (funny how life works that way). And never, ever give in to the bastards who want to tear you away from your dreams. I’m out.