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gary@gary-mason.com

Wisdom

Integrity

Acting, Wisdom

Welcome back!

And thanks for reading! Integrity, a cornerstone of moral character, encompasses honesty, authenticity, and adherence to ethical principles. At its core, integrity reflects a commitment to truthfulness and moral uprightness, regardless of external pressures or temptations. This week, let’s talk about integrity.

REMEMBER:

Just a reminder here that when I use the term “actor” I mean it to encompass all forms of acting including voice, stage, and screen.  Yeah, I know I say this every week, but it falls under the heading of “The things that go without saying are the things that most need to be said”.  What follows applies relatively equally to all of these forms of acting.

What is Integrity?

Integrity, which comes from the Latin word “integer,” meaning whole or complete, is the embodiment of our actions based on core values and principles. It requires consistency between beliefs, words, and deeds. It fosters trust and respect in both personal and business relationships.

Definition

Of course, before we talk to much about integrity, I always like to visit my friend Merriam-Webster for a quick definition, just so we are all talking about the same thing:

  1. firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility
  2. an unimpaired condition:soundness
  3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided:completeness

Incorruptible, sound, complete. That pretty much says it all. I’d like to park on: incorruptible.

Well, we should define THAT too, then…

Again, my good friend Merriam-Webster: Incorruptible.

  1. incapable of corruption: such as
    1.  incapable of being bribed or morally corrupted.
    2. not subject to decay or dissolution.

Integrity, then, means being incorruptible; not subject to decay or dissolution.

That was fun…now let’s talk.

In order to have integrity, a person needs to have a set of core principles, morality if you will (and I know that has religious connotations, but it is not meant that way here).  In short, you can’t be incorruptible if you have nothing inherent within you to corrupt. Now, we can each define our own morality (core principles) as we see fit…I am not trying to tell you what principles you should live by, just that you should have some. Often, core principles include honesty, fairness, accountability, and respect for others’ rights and property. Those are the principles I want to discuss – if those are not part of yours, you can probably stop reading now.

A lot of people…

As an aside, I have noticed that a lot of people share those principles. And a lot of THEM expect them of others, but not so much from themselves. Integrity necessitates self-awareness and authenticity so that you can ensure your actions reflect your true self. You have to be self-aware, so your inner convictions match your outward behavior. I find that some people have a difficult time both really knowing what their inner convictions are and matching their behavior to them. Anyway, I digress.

So, you have core beliefs…

The problem begins when a situation arises where your core beliefs, and acting on them, put you in a position where you stand to suffer in some way if you follow them. Maybe you have a strong belief about something in general, but when placed in a situation where you have a personal stake in the outcome, you may be inclined to act in a way that does not reflect those beliefs. The one example I can think of is: Reproductive rights. And no, this is just an example and not a commentary on the rightness or wrongness of a particular stance. You may be Pro-life, for example, but when faced with an unwanted pregnancy you’d consider termination because it affects you personally. In this case, your core beliefs do not match your behavior. Not integrity.

Seriously…

It was just the only example I could come up with, this post is not about women’s reproductive rights, it’s about integrity.

A real-world example…

I recently bought a piece of property to use as a place to take our RV for the summer to be close to our grandson. When we bought it (it was just an acre of raw land) our new neighbor had built a dog run, deer stand and chicken coop on the property. Of course, we told him he’d have to move them (he did), and to secure our property line (since we were not going to be there full time) we erected a privacy fence on the line. Turns out, our property line was about 6 feet into his driveway! How do you think he felt about US using what he thought was HIS property? If you guessed angry, you guessed right. He didn’t respect others property, but expected respect for what he considered his property (even though it actually wasn’t). No integrity.

Say what you’ll do and do what you say…

Sometimes, we’ll enter an arrangement or agreement that benefits us in some way and agree to some condition of that benefit. If we have integrity, we will honor the condition in order to continue receiving the benefit. Many times, though, that condition is uncomfortable or difficult, and we secretly renege on whatever that condition is and get angry when the other party removes the benefit. What has happened is we’ve agreed to something that is counter to our core beliefs in order to receive a benefit, and then our behavior reflects the core belief and not whatever agreed to condition there is. The arrangement does not reflect our true selves. Not integrity.

What does all this have to do with acting?

Good question. Integrity is essential in the acting profession, both for performance and for success. Acting, as a form of artistic expression, relies heavily on authenticity and truthfulness. We strive to portray characters convincingly, embody their emotions, motivations, and experiences. An actor must embody and portray the core principles of the character not the performer. And sometimes the character’s core principles are in opposition to the performers principles.

Sacrificing integrity for success…

Integrity extends to the roles actors choose to portray. While artistic freedom allows for diverse character portrayals, consideration of an actor’s core principles should govern, or at least be a consideration for, role selection. Actors must weigh the impact of their portrayals on societal perceptions and values and how their core beliefs align with them. An actor should never sacrifice their core principles for the sake of success. It comes back to bite you.

You see it all the time…

Maybe not all the time, but you certainly see this happen. An actor accepts a role, successfully portrays the character, and gets accolades for their performance. Then later is called out for the portrayal and is excoriated in the press and on social media to the point they can no longer get cast in anything. If the role aligns with their core beliefs, then great – they may deserve the excoriation, but if not…well, that lack of integrity has cost them. Most likely it cost them more than whatever gain they received by playing the role.

Another example of a lack of integrity…

On the production side, I see this all the time: “Part of the compensation is a copy of the project for your reel”. Production says this all the time. But rarely follows through. As actors we need those for our acting reel, part of our resume. But once production has what they need they forget all about what the actor needs. This goes back to “Say what you’ll do and do what you say…”. It is a lack of integrity on the part of many film makers.

So, how do you maintain integrity?

Foster a commitment to personal values. Expect more integrity from yourself than you expect from others. Maintaining integrity in the acting industry begins with a commitment to personal values and principles. Actors must maintain self-awareness clarity to ensure their actions align with their deeply held beliefs. Actor’s must “Say what they’ll do (based on their personal core beliefs) and do what they say. Oh, and it’s OK to say, “I won’t do that”. That’s integrity.

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If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!  And please feel free to share this blog on social media or with other people you think might enjoy it.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything – and as a thank you receive a free copy of my E-Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About getting Started in Voice Over but Didn’t Know Who to Ask! 

Filed Under: Acting, Wisdom

It’s no wonder…

Acting, Encouragement, Finances, Wisdom

Welcome back!

And thanks for reading! It’s no wonder the younger generations are unhappy. How do we “keep score” in life? Generally speaking, wealth seems to be what we point to, to think someone has “made it” or become successful. But money may be a bad way to “keep score”.

REMEMBER:

Just a reminder here that when I use the term “actor” I mean it to encompass all forms of acting including voice, stage, and screen.  Yeah, I know I say this every week, but it falls under the heading of “The things that go without saying are the things that most need to be said”.  What follows applies relatively equally to all of these forms of acting.

It’s not like it was…

I don’t think anyone will argue that things are not the same today as they were back when I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. In 1975 (a random year I picked for comparison – I was 15 then) median home price was just about $59K. Median car prices were roughly $5K. Median salary was just over $12K.

As of 2023…

Today (using 2023 since 2024 isn’t over yet) median home price is just under $383K. Median car prices are just under $60K. Median salary is just under $75K (I got these from Dr. Google, so can’t vouch for accuracy, but do make the point).  Doing a bit of maths: Home prices have increased 550%. Car prices have increased 1100% (!!), while salaries have increased 500%. It’s no wonder households need more than one income to survive. Add to that: The cost of fuel, electricity, groceries, pretty much everything, and things look pretty bleak for young people trying to get established.

But it’s not really that simple…

Depending on where you live, those numbers can be even more skewed. Buying a home, part of “The American Dream”, depending on where you live, is nearly impossible when you are at the age to start a family. Shoot, sometimes RENTING is nearly impossible. It is, again, no wonder that a lot of 30-somethings are either returning home to live with their parents, or never left in the first place. Understanding that a car (and a cell phone, and internet access, among other things) is no longer a luxury, but a necessity makes things even more difficult.

School…and debt…

We’ve been told for decades that a college education is necessary to make it in the world, and to get that education the VAST majority of students have to take on (sometimes) crippling debt. In the 10’s if not 100’s of thousands of dollars. Having that debt alone reduces the available income to live on. Things are not looking good for our younger generations (I hate the label “millennial, just because today it has a somewhat negative connotation). It’s no wonder young people find it impossible to save for retirement. At the rate we’re going they’re going to wind up working till they die.

And let’s not even talk about health care…

Seriously, I’m not gonna talk about it. We all know it’s WAY too expensive and many people just stay sick instead of getting the care they need.

And the result?

Angst. Despair. Defeat. I see it in the majority of the people I know who are 40 or younger. The cost of living compared to the opportunity to make a living just doesn’t match, and there seems to be no end in sight. I’m glad I’m not just starting out today. I feel for those kids (yeah, I know they are adults, but to me…). Improving your lot is more complicated, more difficult, today too. It’s no wonder there is so much agitation today, and such a rift between boomers and millennials (I really do dislike that term). Young people just can’t use the same strategies we did to get ahead.

Money doesn’t matter…

I hear this quite a lot. When I talk to people about doing things (no, not skipping their coffee or avocado toast…those are ridiculous suggestions) that might help them increase their wealth this is a very common response: Money isn’t important to me. Work life balance, time with family and friends, entertainment, enjoyment…these are the things that are important. And they are important. All work and no play, after all.

The problem is…

Money DOES matter. No, I’m not talking about being rich, or greedy. I’m talking about the framework that presently exists. Without money, there is no home (even if it is an apartment), no car, no phone, and on and on. Even if you are living at home with your parents, money matters – just maybe theirs instead of yours! Money is absolutely not the most important thing in life, but it is certainly in the top 10, and many of the other 9 things in the top ten are either reduced or gone altogether without money. I mean, it’s no wonder so many people feel this way, but in the reality of the world it is a self-defeating way to feel.

So, what do you do?

Well, I am not an expert, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I have been circling the sun for 63 years and I may have seen some things. I like to think I’m not a typical boomer who thinks the strategies that worked for me will work today. And here is my big suggestion: Understand the framework in which we live (like it or not) and make decision within that framework until you can get to a point where you have the ability to change the framework.

Huh?

Yeah, I know…not clear…but here it is in (lengthier) layman’s terms: You don’t have to agree with the way things are, go ahead and rage against the machine, but you DO have to (or at least should) understand how things really are and use that understanding to get to a point where your raging against the machine may actually have some impact.

Here’s an example…

I was having a conversation with one of my kids about finding a place to live. He was adamant that he didn’t want to buy a house because it is “criminal to pay the bank all that money in interest when it is technically their house!”. Sound familiar? And yeah, it stinks. I don’t like it. But the other options aren’t pretty either: Rent and pay a lot of money to someone whose house it also technically is, live with your parents so THEY can pay a bank a bunch of interest, or find a field and pitch a tent. None are good choices but paying a ton of interest while you (albeit slowly) build equity in a property that also appreciates…is clearly the best choice. Understand the framework and work within it till you can change it. Anyway, this post is not abouit buying houses, it is just an example.

And what does this have to do with acting?

Well, I’m glad you asked. If you are an actor, then odds are you are one of the multitude of actors who is not making a “living” with their acting career. Therefore, you probably are (or need to be) working some full time 9-5 job to make ends meet. Which means you don’t have a lot of time to devote to acting if you are trying to live a “normal” life and go to bed at a reasonable time and have some leisure on the weekends.

And if you don’t LOVE acting…

If you don’t love acting, quit reading now, sorry I wasted your time. But if you do love acting, you are going to have to sacrifice now for a better later. Reality says you have to pay all your bills, or you’ll be homeless, so you HAVE to work that 9-5…but you don’t HAVE to go to bed at 10, or 11, or whenever you normally go to bed. You don’t HAVE to relax in front of the tube after dinner and you don’t HAVE to relax on the weekends. You don’t HAVE to sacrifice for an acting career either unless you someday want to be able to support yourself as a working actor. Given the fact that your acting career, at least for some period of time is going to require you to sacrifice something in your life…it’s no wonder so many people give up that dream.

So….

Don’t quit your day job, don’t skip the Froufrou coffee or avocado toast…but DO skip a normal life (I mean compared to non-actors of course) and sacrifice sleep, entertainment, vacations, and family time so that later you can have a successful acting career. And remember: Money is not REALLY what defines success, it just pays the bills so you can pursue it.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!  And please feel free to share this blog on social media or with other people you think might enjoy it.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything – and as a thank you receive a free copy of my E-Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About getting Started in Voice Over but Didn’t Know Who to Ask! 

 

Filed Under: Acting, Encouragement, Finances, Wisdom

DILIGENCE

Acting, Encouragement, Wisdom

Welcome back!

And thanks for reading! Acting can be a tough job. Sometimes it just feels like nothing is happening. It can be discouraging at times, and many now well-known actors were at a point in their careers where they were ready to throw in the towel just before they got their big break. An acting career requires diligence to be successful. This week let’s talk a bit about being diligent.

REMEMBER:

Just a reminder here that when I use the term “actor” I mean it to encompass all forms of acting including voice, stage, and screen.  Yeah, I know I say this every week, but it falls under the heading of “The things that go without saying are the things that most need to be said”.  What follows applies relatively equally to all of these forms of acting.

What is diligence?

It’ll come as no surprise to those of you who actually read this blog every week (except last week, since my life is so hectic right now I actually fogot to write!) that I’ve turned to my favorite online dictionary, Merriam-Webster to find the definition of diligence:

;steady, earnest, and energetic effort : devoted and painstaking work and application to accomplish an undertaking : assiduity

Steady, earnest, energetic, devoted and painstaking. THAT’S what you need to be to make it in this industry.

Coming up with things to write about

One of the most difficult things about writing a (mostly) weekly missive is figuring out what things to write about. And of course once finding a topic stretching that out to about 1500 words (my self-imposed word count for this blog), but that is a topic for another day. So how do I come up with a topic? Well, usually I pull from something that happened over the last week, and this week is no different.

A story

I wrote a couple weeks ago about how chaotic my life is these days buying, selling, and improving real estate, as we prepare to move to a different state. As we approach the date our house goes “live” in the real estate market it’s a scramble to get everything done. There is so much to do that in some instances we needed to hire people to help us, and this week was one of those weeks.

The house is dirty

No, not that kind of dirty. It had algae and just general filth all over it from, well, sitting outside all the time. It’s funny how you don’t notice these things until it’s time to have a million pictures taken to showcase your home for other people to want to buy it. Anyway, it needed to be pressure washed so it looks good, and it was just too big of a job for me to do myself. Besides, it is tall and I am afraid of heights. So, we hired a professional power washing company and scheduled them for last Wednesday.

We have a deadline

Pictures are on the 12th, and the yard guys are coming on the 10th to landscape, so the house needed to be cleaned by the 9th. No problem, right? We scheduled the washing for March 27th to make sure we had plenty of time to get it done before the landscapers arrive NEXT Wednesday. And then…

It rained

Under the heading of things you can’t control, it rained all day Wednesday. So, when I saw the forecast, I called the power wash guy. Of course, he can’t really work in heavy rain so needed to push off the job till the weather was better. And then it rained Thursday. And Friday.

Schedules and Deadlines

Funny thing about schedules and deadlines: They don’t always align. I wish I was his only customer, but that’s not realistic. This coming week was a full schedule for him, and he doesn’t work weekends (especially not Easter weekend) so it looked a lot like it just wasn’t going to be done in time. He wanted the job so we discussed how we might get it done and he agreed to come out Saturday to do the job, even though his wife was not really happy about it.

It’s a big house

Apparently, bidding a job based on Google Earth and pictures on Zillow is not terribly accurate. When he got here and actually saw the job, he realized he had significantly underbid. He’s honorable though and agreed to do the job at the original bid anyway: Good for me, bad for him. He also was doing this job alone because no one in his crew was willing to work the weekend. And he asked me to never tell anyone what he charged if I recommended him (I definitely recommend him – if you want to know and live in Northern VA give me a shout).

Here’s where the diligence comes in

He began working, alone, at around 11:30 Saturday morning. At 8PM he was about ¾ of the way done with the house, but hadn’t started the garage yet – oh, and it rained a bit too. I spoke with him as he was wrapping up for the day, and he said he’d have to get back to me on a time to return. He contacted me later that night and said he’d be back Sunday to finish. True to his word he arrived about 1:30 PM Sunday and got to work. I asked how much trouble he was in at home, and he said “Well, a bit”. An understatement to go along with his under bid.

Aaaaand….

Around 8:30 PM I went out to check on him again. He was just finishing up the garage, but still had ¼ of the house to finish. And it was full dark. And he hadn’t eaten all day. Clearly, he wasn’t going to be able to finish (and get paid) so he said he’d be back Tuesday for the last little bit. And of course it is predicting rain all day Tuesday. April showers and all. I have no doubt he’ll get it done by the deadline, though, because I can see he is very DILIGENT. I plan to give him a good-sized tip, partly because he has done an amazing job this far, and partly because I feel kinda bad for him.

What does all that have to do with acting?

I’m glad you asked. I’ll start by saying that’s the kind of actor I want to be. No, not the kind that has to start a power washing business to survive, the kind that just doesn’t give up even in the face of major difficulty and does an amazing job to boot. I want to be a diligent actor. Steady, earnest, energetic, devoted and painstaking (remember those from earlier?). Just like this guy.

Sometimes

Sometimes this work can be discouraging. You submit, and submit, and submit. Audition, and audition, and audition. And Nothing. When you do book work, it seems the roles are small (there are no small roles BTW), or the project is small and won’t be seen by many people, or the project doesn’t have much of a budget, so the pay is low, or the project never gets done. It’s enough to make you want to quit. And a lot of people do.

DON’T

Jenna Fischer (Pam in The Office) writes in her book: The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide, that just before she booked the role of Pam she was considering giving up acting and concentrating on a 9-5. Bryan Cranston (Walter White in Breaking Bad among many others) writes in his book: A Life in Parts about his struggles early in his career and considering giving up acting. But neither did, and now you know them. There are a lot more, but you get the idea. 

IMDB

Take a look at any well-known actor’s IMDB page and you will see tons of projects you’ve never heard of nestled in between all the ones you know well. Unknown projects, low paid roles, weeks, months, sometimes years between gigs is common in the industry. The one thing (besides great acting) that sets these well-known people apart is this: Diligence. They never gave up. They were steady, earnest, energetic, devoted and painstaking in pursuing their craft and career. You (and I) should be too.

So, just don’t

Don’t give up. I’d say don’t get discouraged, but that may be a bridge too far, just: Don’t. Give. Up. Stay focused. Be Steady. Be earnest. Be energetic. Be devoted. Be painstaking. And keep on going. To be honest, the odds of you becoming a Jenna Fischer or Bryan Cranston are small (very small actually) but the odds of you becoming a working actor who is able to support themselves with their craft? WAY bigger. And besides, the odds of you being able to do either of those things is exactly ZERO if you give up! So, just don’t.

 If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!  And please feel free to share this blog on social media or with other people you think might enjoy it.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything – and as a thank you receive a free copy of my E-Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About getting Started in Voice Over but Didn’t Know Who to Ask! 

Filed Under: Acting, Encouragement, Wisdom

REJECTION!

Acting, Encouragement, Wisdom

Welcome back!

And thanks for reading! If you’re an actor, you know very well what rejection feels like. The question is, how do you handle rejection? A better question is: IS it really rejection? This week let’s talk about rejection and how to handle it.

REMEMBER:

Just a reminder here that when I use the term “actor” I mean it to encompass all forms of acting including voice, stage, and screen.  Yeah, I know I say this every week, but it falls under the heading of “The things that go without saying are the things that most need to be said”.  What follows applies relatively equally to all of these forms of acting.

Job Hunting

Acting is one of the only jobs you can have where you are constantly looking for work. Most people spend some time trying to find a job and then when they find one, they work at it for at least a few years (normally) before having to find another. And most of the time they are looking while working so it is relatively stress free. Most of the time. As an actor, finding a job typically means being employed for days or maybe weeks before you are looking for another job. Very few actors get long term roles that last for years.

What is Rejection?

I like to turn to my favorite resource to answer questions like this: The Dictionary. According to Merriam-Webster – my go-to dictionary – here is the definition of rejection:

  • a : the action of rejecting : the state of being rejected

b: an immune response in which foreign tissue (as of a skin graft or transplanted organ) is attacked by immune system components of the recipient organism

  • : something rejected

Not really much help when they use the word they are defining to define that word. I guess they expect everyone to already know what it means. Let’s turn to the Cambridge Dictionary:

the act of refusing to accept, use, or believe someone or something:

There we go! For an actor, it is the “refusing to accept” part we’ll be focusing on.

Rejection

We’ve all experienced rejection from time to time in searching for work. You just don’t get every job you apply for. It’s normal, but it can still suck. For most people, that form of rejection occurs every few years and then there is a long break. For actors? Rejection occurs almost daily. And not just once for each job. For an actor, each job provides three opportunities to be rejected, each one slightly worse than the last.

Submission

The first step in applying for any acting job is the submission. This is where you see a role you think you may be a fit for and you submit your “materials”. Your materials are head shots, resumes and acting reels (for VO it’s usually just a voice reel). Casting takes a look (or listen) to your materials and then decides if you really could be a good fit for the role. This step is by far the easiest rejection to take because you typically hear nothing back from submissions. Actors get used to this level of rejection very quickly in their career and just move on to submit to other roles. We submit for multiple roles every day.

Audition

Then, it happens. One of your submissions hits and you get the much sought after request for an audition. You pour yourself into preparing for the audition, studying the script, figuring out the “who, what, where” of the scene, the tone of scene and who your character is. Then you spend some time familiarizing yourself with the dialog and actions in the scene, memorize your lines and put on some clothes that suggests the character. You find a reader (if you need one) and head to whatever studio setup you have, record 2-3 takes (honestly, don’t drive yourself nuts doing 10 takes). Then it’s off to your computer to pick the best take, edit it, make sure sound and lighting are good and send the audition off to casting.

Crickets

Even after all the work of preparing for, recording, and editing your audition, crickets is usually what you hear back from casting. Honestly, not even crickets. Silence. The most likely outcome of sending an audition is: Nothing. This rejection is much harder to take. You worked hard, did all the prep, rehearsed the scene, and gave your best performance. And then not even a “Thank you for your time, we are going another way”.  It can be discouraging.

Call Back

And then it happens – you get a call back! Of course, a call back means they liked your audition and are considering you for the role. This is a very exciting time for an actor because it means you might get cast! YEA! So, you take another look at the scene, rehearse a little more and then make yourself available to meet with the casting team and perhaps the director or producer of the project, either in-person or more likely these days virtually. It can be nerve wracking and anxiety producing. I mean, you might actually get a job! Then, the call back meeting lasts about ten minutes, and you are done. It’s kind of anti-climactic.

More Crickets

Yep, the usual result is even more crickets after the call back. Sometimes they may ask about availability (this is a good sign!) or even “pin” you (an even better sign) for the day or days you’d be working. At least if they pin you when they decide to go with another actor, they’ll tell you they are releasing you, so you know for sure you didn’t get it. This is the hardest rejection to take since you had high expectations of getting the role.

But….

There’s always a but, right!? AS bad as it can feel to be rejected, the thing is these are NOT rejections. Yes, they can feel like rejection, but there is a much better way to look at casting when you don’t get the role. It may even make not getting cast feel less like a rejection.

Selection

Casting is a process of selection, NOT rejection. The first thing to understand is that, for a given project/role, there are dozens, if not hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of submissions. Casting has a tough job to sort through them all to find the perfect actor for the role. What they are not doing is looking for people to exclude, they are looking for people to INclude. Actors are being selected, not rejected.

The Menu Analogy

Let’s say you decide to go out to dinner at your favorite restaurant (the project). You sit down and the waiter brings you a menu (submissions). Even though you may be familiar with the menu offerings you peruse the menu deciding what to have for dinner. You are leaning toward either a steak or roast chicken, so you ignore the pork, fish, pasta, and salads. Finally, you decide on the chicken and that’s what you order. Enjoy your meal. Have you rejected pork, fish, pasta, salad, and steak? Not at all, you may order one of those next time.

You’re The Menu Item!

When you submit to a role, you become one of many menu items to choose from. Casting looks through all the menu items and selects several they might be interested in then considers only those (audition) they narrow it down to just one or two choices (callback) and eventually decide on just one to order (cast). Just like you don’t always feel like pork or fish or pasta, not every actor (no matter how talented) is right for every role. They were not rejected; they just weren’t selected.

It has nothing to do with…

Their selection of someone else has nothing to do with how talented you are as an actor. Does eating chicken mean steak or pasta are terrible? NO! They just weren’t the right selection for that day. There are SO many reasons a person may or may not be selected that have nothing to do with their talent. How tall are they? Hair color? Eye color? Accent? Body type? Availability? All of these (and many more) are reasons a given actor may not be selected for a role, even when they absolutely nail the audition. They just don’t fit for some reason.

Remember

If you’ve been asked to audition, you were selected. If you’ve been invited to a call back, you were selected. If you’ve been pinned (even if later released) you’ve been selected. And, of course, if you’ve been offered the role you were selected. By the time you get a role, you’ve been selected numerous times! So, rejoice in getting the audition and give them the most attractive menu item you can be, then celebrate the actor who was selected for the role, one day it will be you!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!  And please feel free to share this blog on social media or with other people you think might enjoy it.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything – and as a thank you receive a free copy of my E-Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About getting Started in Voice Over but Didn’t Know Who to Ask! 

Looking for your next great non-fiction read? Look no further! Check out this promotion: Spring Into Action 

Filed Under: Acting, Encouragement, Wisdom

CHAOS!

Acting, Encouragement, Wisdom

Welcome back!

And thanks for reading! Moving sucks. There I said it! We are presently in a transition period, moving from Virginia to South Carolina. And while I look forward to our new home (someday) the transition period is pretty chaotic. And it definitely impacts an acting career! This week let’s talk about chaotic life events!

REMEMBER:

Just a reminder here that when I use the term “actor” I mean it to encompass all forms of acting including voice, stage, and screen.  Yeah, I know I say this every week, but it falls under the heading of “The things that go without saying are the things that most need to be said”.  What follows applies relatively equally to all of these forms of acting.

It’s a LOT

Have you ever changed houses? Locations? Doing both certainly adds a level of complexity to life. We are doing that right now and there are a LOT of moving pieces. As I sit typing this at 6:15AM on Monday March 11, 2024 I am working with four realtors. Well, actually, today it’s three since we actually completed one transaction, but I am talking to yet another so it will likely be four again soon. Just keeping their names and what each is doing for me straight is chaos enough!

Here’s what is happening

First, I am attempting to sell my home. That’s one realtor (and she is fantastic – if you are in Northern Virginia and need a realtor, reach out and I’ll recommend). We own a very nice, large, home. Some might call it a McMansion, although it was originally built way back in the 1950’s. I don’t mention this to brag, but it bears on preparation to sell. This type of home requires a particular type of executive buyer, so it has to be marketed just right. Enter the realtors staging expert. She’s really a nice lady, but I hate her. If you’re not familiar with staging I envy you. This is where someone goes through your house and tells you what to get rid of and how to arrange everything.

You kind of have to pre-pack

In order to properly stage a house, you kind of have to pre-pack most of it and store the extra stuff…what I call the things you use every day and the stager calls “clutter”. As you can see by the picture our garage is filling up with the stuff we packed. To be fair, Karen has packed most of it but I have moved it all down to the garage.  I won’t show you a picture, but the house is a wreck with moving boxes and packing paper everywhere. Chaos.

Second

Next, we are having a house built in South Carolina. If you didn’t know, South Carolina is a 7-hour drive from Northern Virginia, and in the last two months we have been down there for one thing or another seven or eight times. I’m actually sitting in South Carolina right NOW, as my son moved down here yesterday and we had a truck and car load of stuff to bring down. Enter realtor number 5 (well, 4 now I suppose) to help him find a new place so he doesn’t live with his sister too long.  Anyway, having a house built means a bajillion design decisions and tracking progress, hence realtor number two. She’s ALSO fantastic so if you are looking to have a house built (or buy one) in the Charleston area, I can recommend her too.

Then

We are also selling a piece of land we thought we might build on here in South Carolina (realtor number 3). This one is pretty easy, since it is bare land and nothing to get ready…but also not a lot of offers rolling in.  This one hardly adds to the chaos, although it does to some extent, and if we don’t sell quickly it’s not a tragedy.

And of course…

Since we are moving away from one grandson (but closer to a soon-to-be granddaughter though) we purchased an acre in West Virginia (near that grandson) where we can park our RV for extended visits. We closed on that land last week, which is why that realtor dropped off the list, but added a General Contractor to coordinate a well, septic system, and electric service installation there. We’re barely started there so finishing the purchase will just ADD to the chaos.

My life is all over the place

Between getting our Virginia home ready, tracking and making decisions on the South Carolina home, preparing the West Virginia land for the RV and fielding offers (not as many as I’d like) on the South Carolina property – we are all over the place. Literally. We spend a LOT of time traveling back and forth between all these places. Sometimes I feel like I need an extra 12 hours for each day in order to be ready for everything. Oh, yeah, and my daughter is having a baby next month so I also have all the stuff associated with that to contend with (baby showers and the birth too!). And did I mention I am also producing a podcast? I’ll let you know when it releases. And, of course, regular life as well…that hasn’t gone away.

And then…work

I’m fortunate to be retired from my day job, and don’t require income from my acting career to be able to live. I still want to (and do) work though. I’ve had to make some adjustments. Those adjustments are really kind of the point of this post, sorry you had to wade through all of the above first, but I felt it was important to provide context in describing the adjustments. The real message here is that if you love what you do, you can do it even in the midst of chaos.

Acting class

Sadly, when you have a lot on your plate some things just have to fall off. For me, that meant pausing acting classes/coaching.  It’s temporary and I am already researching acting classes in South Carolina, but we won’t be here full time until late this year (the builder is telling us November). Since we put our house on the market next month and expect to be out by June, that means several nomadic months in the RV which is not conducive to attending a weekly class. So, pause to acting classes. I’ve got two more paid up guitar lessons and then that pauses too.

The booth

One of the things the staging lady called “clutter” is my VO booth. It’s not down yet, but will have to be in the next couple weeks. If you know anyone looking for a broadcast quality booth, let me know I’ve got one at a good price since it won’t fit in the new house. Anyway, the adjustment is figuring out a temporary portable solution. I’m ready there, but don’t need to implement it till the booth comes down.

The Studio

My audition filming studio is, apparently, also clutter. That has to also come down in the next couple weeks. As a result, I’ve had to not only figure out a temporary solution for at home, but come up with a way to audition from the RV. I’ve locked down the RV solution (even booked a job with an RV audition!) even though it is not optimal. I suspect my home solution (which is on my to-do list) won’t be optimal either.

Scheduling

I’ve had to cut back on the number of roles I submit for. With my present schedule, I simply can’t submit for everything I am a fit for like I was doing. So, I’ve had to really pay close attention to not only production dates, but locations as well and then be very selective. It means I’m not able to work as much as I’d like to. The timing on this is actually pretty good, since there is a bit of a contraction in the industry right now and I am not missing out on too many jobs anyway, because they are not there.

The message

My point in all of this is not to complain. Far from it. This is a very exciting time in our lives and I am looking forward to making the move, even though things are a bit hectic at the moment. The real message here is that if you love what you do you can keep doing it even in the face of this much chaos. It would be very easy to simply “pause” my acting career till all of this is done, but that would likely lead to stagnation and maybe never un-pausing it. So, if your life looks chaotic right now like mine does, don’t stop! Make whatever adjustments you need and keep moving forward, even if it is slowly. I think you’ll be glad you did. I’ll let you know when my chaos dies down.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!  And please feel free to share this blog on social media or with other people you think might enjoy it.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything – and as a thank you receive a free copy of my E-Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About getting Started in Voice Over but Didn’t Know Who to Ask! 

Looking for your next great non-fiction read? Look no further! Check out this promotion: Spring Into Action 

Filed Under: Acting, Encouragement, Wisdom

Leaning Forward

Acting, Wisdom

Welcome back!

And thanks for reading! Leaning Forward. It’s one of those little business jargon sayings like Circling Back, floating it back to the top of your inbox, taking it offline, and others that have come into vogue. While I understand how they came about, most of them drive me a little crazy, but this one, leaning forward, is important not only in business and acting, but in life as well. This week let’s talk about leaning forward.

REMEMBER:

Just a reminder here that when I use the term “actor” I mean it to encompass all forms of acting including voice, stage, and screen.  Yeah, I know I say this every week, but it falls under the heading of “The things that go without saying are the things that most need to be said”.  What follows applies relatively equally to all of these forms of acting.

Origins

The origins of the phrase are a little muddy, but it has been around for a very long time. It appears it was originally used during the Cold War era in military and espionage circles to indicate a willingness to take risks to get the job done. It seems to have come into more common usage in the 1970’s and was one of then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s favorite phrases.

In Business

Leaning forward started its business life with much the same meaning. To lean forward meant to take risks to maximize profits and grow your business. It very likely became mainstream precisely because the defense Secretary used the phrase often when addressing the press. The meaning and usage has morphed somewhat since it was first used and now means something more akin to being eager or anxious.

Bending over backward

I find it interesting that the phrase bending over backward is similar. Bending over backward indicates a willingness to do whatever it takes, to go out of your way, to accomplish something. Funny that the two phrases are so closely defined yet one has you moving ahead while the other has you moving back.

In life

In life, to lean forward is to push hard for the attainment of a goal. To lean forward though, is a bit more than working toward a goal; it is to work to achieve the goal quickly. More quickly than average. There can still be an element of risk involved, because reaching for a goal almost always contains some risk…but trying to achieve it quickly means having to put yourself out there when you don’t feel “ready”. A perceived risk of failure is probably the biggest risk. It can be frightening to lean into the achievement of your goal.

“Normal”

I mean, what is normal anyway? In my mind, normal is average. The usual progression of things. Most of us when attempting to attain a goal look at what the usual steps to achieving that particular thing are, and then proceed down that path. It is unusual to push hard to achieve things faster than normal, but in my experience, it is not unusual at all to desire achieving it faster than normal. So why isn’t everyone leaning forward? I think it because of two things (probably more, but this is my blog, and I am going to say two).  Effort and fear.

Effort

No one will be surprised to know that to lean forward requires a lot more effort than following a “normal” path. While it always takes a lot of work to achieve any goal worth achieving, trying to speed up the process requires an exponentially larger amount of effort. Most of us want “work life balance” (another one of those jargon-y phrases) and are not willing to sacrifice that balance to succeed more quickly.

Fear

I mentioned it earlier, but fear of failure plays a huge role in just following the normal path to success in a given endeavor. It is far easier and much less risky to follow a well-trodden path than it is to blaze a trail. It seems like the chance of success is greater that way. But, in my opinion (I mean, it IS my blog, so my opinion matters) the chance of failure is not any greater when leaning forward, you just fail earlier. That could be a good thing.

If you are going to fail anyway…

Failure is not a bad thing. Yeah, I know it FEELS bad, but as long as you react to failure the right way it is actually just a learning experience. Failing early gives you more time to fall back and regroup. It is a chance to decide if that goal you were reaching for is attainable by you at all, or if you just need to adjust and try again. The more quickly you achieve failure, the more time you have to adjust. And let’s face it, we are all going to fail at things. Probably a lot. I know I have.

An example

We all, or at least most of us, went to high school. We graduated (hopefully anyway) around 18, then headed off to college and graduated at around 22. Then, it’s off to our chosen profession. Normal. I had the pleasure of dating a girl in high school who had other plans. I say dating but as you’ll see, she really didn’t have much time for actual dating.

Class load

This girl took a full load of advanced classes, starting in middle school actually, and then took additional classes at the local community college in the evenings. She had one-and-a-half times the classes of a “normal” student, like me. She was leaning forward before leaning forward was cool. The result: She graduated high school at 16, was in college at 17, graduated at 19 and was a full-fledged nurse by 20.  Today she is a doctor (before she was 30) and of course our dating didn’t work out because she was way too smart for me and I was a knucklehead. I still can’t figure out what she saw in me.

Here’s the thing…

By leaning forward, she expended a lot more energy up front, to reap rewards for a longer period of time. By the time the rest of us were starting a career she was already three promotions into hers. And today, she not only has the time but the money to kick back and just enjoy life. (She doesn’t, she’s still doctoring, but she could, and I know because we are still FB friends). Not that the rest of us weren’t successful. It just took us longer and we have less time left to enjoy that success.

Balance

We all enjoy balance in our life. But most of us see balance in the immediate moment. Imagine a teeter-totter (do they still make those or are they unsafe now?) where the fulcrum is in the middle. Place the same weight on each end, and you get balance. Now imagine that same teeter-totter with the fulcrum closer to one end. If you put a heavy weight on the short end and a lighter weight on the other, you can still achieve balance. That’s what leaning forward does. All the work and risk up front, all the life on the back end. We typically want balance today, when we should be striving for balance over the course of our life.

What does that have to do with acting?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Most actors I know today are also working a full-time job to support their families that takes up a lot of their time. By the time they need to work on their acting career, they are exhausted and can’t find the time. So, they work at it, let’s say, less strenuously than if they could devote all their time to it. They fail to submit, or when they do they miss auditions. The result? They either struggle for a long time to achieve success as an actor or give up because it just isn’t happening.  That makes the path to success a much longer, and in the end a much more difficult path.

It’s too late for me!

No. It’s not. OK, it’s probably too late to graduate at 16 and be a full-fledged doctor before you’re 30th birthday. But it’s never too late to reach for a goal, and leaning forward will help you achieve it faster. So…bend over backward to start leaning forward today!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!  And please feel free to share this blog on social media or with other people you think might enjoy it.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything – and as a thank you receive a free copy of my E-Book: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About getting Started in Voice Over but Didn’t Know Who to Ask! 

Looking for your next great non-fiction read? Look no further! Check out this promotion: Spring Into Action 

Filed Under: Acting, Wisdom

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