Balls to Talent!

I recently read an article all about talent and acting, and I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or scream and shout. Acting is based around being human. We all have that capacity, you don’t need to be extremely gifted, you need the basics and a passionate commitment to it. From there, it’s about getting enough practice to make you good enough. The line between awful and awesome is often very wide, but it’s also sometimes very thin. Because viewing acting is highly subjective. So, I say BALLs to talent, I’m not interested in it. Yeah, of course, I’ve got many talented students and have taught many ‘talented’ people. But what really appealed to me the most about them? What REALLY impressed me? They worked hard, they did what they were asked to do, they went away and did more work than was actually necessary to prepare and then they gave it all 100% without moaning.

So, I say BALLs to talent. Talent is not a useful thing, it’s an intangible, useless, invisible thing. Yes, some people are very good at something, that’s a talent. But others can learn to do it too.

Talent is just a way of telling other people to get lost. You’re not TALENTED enough, and frankly, it’s crap. You don’t need talent. You need skill. Skill is far more interesting than talent and skill can be nurtured, developed, matured and trained. Talent is impossible, you can’t touch it and you can’t train it.

If anything, I agree with Stella Alder who says ‘You’ve got to have a talent for your talent’. If you like, you need to know how to DO something with what you’ve been given – regardless of what level of ability that is.

Acting is about being human, we can all do that. Those who believe it takes some higher gift, well, they need it to be thus bestowed.

Graft hard. Don’t give up and balls to TALENT!