imdb envy

Well I hate to admit it but I’m jealous of other actors, particularly those who are working more than me…call it imdb envy. For those of you with an imdb pro account you know that every single person on imdb is given a star number, which more or less represents how ‘hot’ you are at any particular moment. It never really became an issue until I started meeting more successful actors, and their imdb numbers were higher than mine..
. That’s when I was afflicted with the crippling disease of imdb envy. I want to be the highest ranked person I know, which is getting harder and harder the more successful actors I meet! They always say to hang around people who are more successful than you because you are more likely to emulate them and do the things they are doing. The problem is that you are always going to seem second rate by comparison. So even though I’m doing great as an actor, both in an absolute sense and a relative one, when compared to others who have been working at it longer than me or who are more commercial, younger and all the other ‘ers that another actor can be, it can get downright depressing. I’ve always been one to hang out with the cool kids, even though I was more of a loner than a cool kid, but I’ve always known how to be funny and I’m also sharp and insightful, just never that ambitious. So with all my successful friends who enjoyed being around me, I never really amounted to much, at least maybe compared to my potential. Well here we go again! I’m working on a movie with a very successful actor, and starting to form a friendship and I’m looking at his credits, etc and I’m like “I will never get to that level”. That at least, is my instinct.

The lesson I’m trying to teach you is that you never really know what your potential is until you test your limits. I was pretty sure I would never be on television at all, literally up to the day that I booked ER. I was coming up with all sorts of excuses…my red hair, I was too old, I just looked bad on camera, I was ugly, I was shy, I couldn’t act…the list is as long as an arctic winter. Funny thing is that was how I was perceiving myself. I (and of course you) have no idea how the rest of the world perceives us, and that is what really counts, when it comes to getting a job or whatever. Just as our mothers told us not to judge others, we must also not judge ourselves because we simply can’t be objective. Haven’t you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and thought one thing, and then you see yourself in a picture and you think, that doesn’t look like me at all? Or you hear your voice and think it doesn’t sound like you. Everyone has different ears and eyes and brains, so while it’s easy to assume they all work the same, you know deep down they don’t. So work hard, but always have a ton of confidence, even when you screw up…especially when you screw up. If you blow an audition and get all red and want to run for the door (my normal reaction), you will make the casting director/producers, etc. feel uncomfortable, whereas if you screw up and just have a good laugh about it because it’s no big deal, then they will laugh too and while you may not get the job, you may get a second read (you should just tell them you are going to do it again), and you will likely get called back in the future. Just try to behave as you would want someone else to behave. It’s a little used trick to behave in a manner you would want someone else to behave if they were in the same situation. Simple…hard but simple. Practice screwing up and envision it too, and then envision having a laugh about it. Then gather yourself, and try again. It isn’t cancer so don’t be scared of it.

From your chicken shit acting coach!http://www.youtube.com/get_player