Actors: STOP The Bullsh*t

Actors, what do you want more of?  Opportunities to do your art, auditions, confidence, connection, roles, creating, accessing and channeling emotion?

What do you want less of?  Bullsh*t, self-doubt, smoke-blowers, the marketing sharks, the waiting?

I know you get tired. Sometimes really f&*@ing tired.  The path to greatness, the path to success, the path to happiness, all of them are rocky and littered.  Littered with the scaly transparent skins you have shed of your past selves that became too uncomfortable and small to bear. Littered with crumpled up tissues from all the “I’m not good enough” tears. Littered with wrinkled up receipts, fading footprints of once-upon-a-time friends, chalk outlines of murdered ideals, hope that feels like a flower wilting in the sun and sometimes it all seems too much to bear.

But you do.

And you will.

Why?  Because you are an artist.  You are a creative.  You are empowered with resilience.  Sometimes do you think that in fact you are just a stupid f%$k who needs to just shelve the dream to be an actor and settle into something more stable, something simpler, something more sane?  But, you can’t?  Why? Because you are not dead, yet and that heart, that dream when push comes to shove still refuses to pick up the white flag.  So how do you persevere when you feel irresponsible, naive, stupid, sh*#ty, talentless, passed over, forgotten? How do you become the actor that you hope to be?

You shelve your tolerance for bullsh*t.

You stop waiting for the next audition and start focusing on being better at your craft.

You f%$king create something.

You shake the trees of your network and listen for a fruit of sustenance to hit the ground or look for a new bud of opportunity to bloom.

You ask for help.

You nurture connections.

You ask yourself how you can better your art.

You give yourself permission to feel everything.

You live.  

The more experiences and the more emotions you know and can draw from will only serve you better as an actor.

If you are a weary actor who hasn’t book a role in awhile, who isn’t sure they should continue trying, who overpaid for the chance to perform in front of some agency’s casting associate or who feels like their head might explode by another showboater embellishing on social media about all the auditions they have or exciting news they can’t share yet.

You are not alone.

Now go write something, read a scene, a book, perform something and record it or experience something you can add to your emotional palette.

So much of life comes down to choice.  Choose action.  Choose art.  Choose to be part of the solid platform for other actors to grab onto who are still floundering in the sea of blowhards and bullsh*t.

Be the actor you wish to see.

You got this.

Looking for a book to read and are still undecided?  Check out our growing list of Books Every Actor Should Have on Their Shelf.

Considering working with a coach?  Collaborate and learn more here.