Why Actors Matter

I’m not going to give you any advice today.

I’m simply going to recount a story that hopefully will make clear why you matter—both as an actor and as a human being.

I was watching an episode of the television show “A Football Life” about an ex-football player named Steve Gleason. He played for the New Orleans Saints and is most famous for blocking a punt which led to the first points scored in the Superdome since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina took place 21 months earlier.

Four years after voluntarily retiring from football in 2011, he was diagnosed with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

ALS is a death sentence. After diagnosis, average patient life expectancy is two-to-five years. As expected, his health declined very quickly and soon he was completely paralyzed and wheelchair bound, able to communicate only through eye gestures on a computer monitor.

Despite not being able to speak or even move, he realized he still had purpose on earth. He wanted to inspire other ALS patients to realize their lives were not over and they could still contribute, regardless of their physical condition.

It soon became apparent he was inspiring more than just ALS patients. To help with his cause, Gleason and his wife formed a foundation called Team Gleason with the motto “no white flags” (meaning no surrender), which is dedicated to raising money for the treatment and cure of ALS and motivating its survivors.

To demonstrate his resolve, Gleason undertook a grueling trek to the historical site of Machu Picchu in Peru with his wife Michel and several other people who were basically going to have to carry him to the top of this ancient site located at an altitude of over 8,000 feet.

To complicate matters, the trek features countless slippery stone paths along sheer cliffs with no guard rails, as well as giant narrow staircases over which Gleason and his wheelchair would have to be carried. The lack of oxygen alone at that altitude could have killed him, and there were plenty of chances along the way where he could have easily fallen to his death.

This is not the story of the trek, but rather of something unexpected that happened before ever setting foot (or wheel) onto trail.

Upon arrival in Peru they had scheduled a dinner to launch their journey, but the travel and stress were taking a toll on Gleason and he was not feeling up to it. His wife Michel was very concerned but they went to the dinner anyway. Just as they were getting ready to sit down to eat, a young American woman whom they had never met rushed up to Michel wanting to show her a picture on her camera.

Michel could not understand what was happening but when she saw the picture, it all became clear. It was a picture of the woman and her boyfriend posing at the top of Machu Picchu. They were wearing “no white flags” t-shirts!

The woman turned out to be Jenny Gonzalez and she was a huge fan of Gleason. She had been terrified of heights all her life, but because she saw what the former football star was able to accomplish in his condition, Gonzalez decided she was not going to let fear get the best of her and rather than spend the rest of her life being afraid, she was going to be more like Gleason.

As soon as I saw that moment, I choked up and realized what a huge moment this was. We all have a huge impact on others, whether we know it or not. We rarely see this impact because it can take years to manifest itself in visible ways. Whenever you show courage and face your fears, whether in your own life or on screen or stage, you or the character you are playing could easily become someone else’s hero, and you probably will never know it.

If you choose the path of acting, then please give it everything you’e got. In portraying the stories that change people’s lives, we actors share a huge responsibility. You could literally be the difference between someone choosing to live or die, or doing right instead of wrong. Our courage gives other people courage.

That is why you matter. That is why acting matters. We have a limitless ability to deliver inspiring messages that can elicit change in people around the world. Very few people in life will ever have as large an audience as an actor who appears in even one single moment of primetime television. When you get that moment, take it seriously and give it your all, because you have the power to change lives.