Making Excuses

There is one quality that I see in my students that indicates that they don’t really have a future in acting. It’s making excuses. There’s a million reasons why you didn’t do something, but if you want to be a successful working actor then you must cultivate the habit of presence.

Acting is learned in through the body and presence is required. That means mental and physical presence, being there and once there, switching on and tuning in.

The cold you have, the busy you were, the ‘a lot’ you’ve got on at the minute, the thing you couldn’t get out of, the visiting nephew, the tickets you’ve booked, they are all an index to one thing, the value you place on your acting career. All these reasons are excuses and they all ask one thing, like the child that was caught being naughty and wants to evade punishment —Indulge me, I am special, I have special extenuating circumstances that crave special treatment.

Mamet says ‘what you practice, you will perform’. It’s the same with your attitude. If you treat class, or auditions or rehearsals like they aren’t the real thing, if you ‘I’ll do it on the day though’ you are making excuses. If you really want to nail it on the day, then from Day 0, you’ve got to cut the shit, put away your excuses and engage. And if you can’t, then perhaps this business isn’t for you.