Talent alone cannot sustain an acting career. Lose your idealism and you lose yourself. Game over!
VIDEO VERSION (2 min. 35 seconds) – Author Narrates Visual Storyline.
Video Transcript:
Talent alone cannot sustain an acting career. An actor needs the following to survive and to thrive.
Do you recall that initial flush of joy following the first audition you aced? Or during the applause of your first bow taken alone? Stephen Sondheim wrote, “When everything was possible and nothing made sense.” That is idealism. Holding on to your early wonderment is the greatest perpetual challenge an actor faces.
Lose your idealism and you lose yourself. Game over! We must lug the load of enthusiasm upon our backs when the trail rises. And we ride idealism’s joys on leveling plains and gentle, rolling downgrades. Dismissive civilians, unsupportive family or friends, and criticizing peers often weigh down our idealism by loading on us doubt provoking comments such as:
“What have I seen you in lately?”
“How come you don’t have an agent?
“Why don’t you have a better agent?”
“Why aren’t you famous?”
“When will you grow up and get a real life?”
But the dangerous comments that lessen actors’ idealism come not from others, but can come forth from within the actor. Thoughts like:
“What is my career?”
“Where am I going?”
“How much longer until I reach…? Wait, what am I reaching for? Do I know? I think so, but my sight is sometimes blurred by a blizzard of doubt.”
Doubt kills idealism. To keep your idealism alive that joy you had when first beginning your career, you must seize thoughts, words and actions that plot to diminish your wonder. For any actor to succeed he or she must recall during times of doubt why they first began acting as a journey.
What was the lighted joy that sparked the imagination illuminating you forward? Idealism’s flame will flicker during gusts of despair. Protect the flame from cross winds that threaten to extinguish the glow. No one else but you can keep lit the lantern that is your idealism.
Share in the comments how your idealism shines bright.
Paul Russell’s career as a casting director, director, acting teacher and former actor has spanned forty years. He has worked on projects for major film studios, television networks, and Broadway. Paul has taught the business of acting and audition technique at NYU and has spoken at universities including Yale, Temple and the University of the Arts. He writes a column for Back Stage and is the author of ACTING: Make It Your Business – How to Avoid Mistakes and Achieve Success as a Working Actor.
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