Message to an Actor

Dear Actor

Well, you’ve come a long way. I can barely recognise you since you came into my studio, full of tension and a little suspicion. You wanted to test me, but you also wanted to be respectful. You’d had a lot of pick and mix training and this may have been your last hope for a decent training regime that would bring you to where you wanted to be. You work hard, but I think you should know that I think you can work harder. Don’t let yourself off the hook so much, and tell yourself every day that you’re an actor, cos I’m not 100% sure that you believe it. But listen to me when I say this, there is no golden moment when a beautiful shaft of light comes down from the sky and proclaims you ‘ACTOR’. And unless you think of yourself as an actor, no one else will. How do your friends and family describe you? If they don’t call you an actor, then you need to be the actor we both know you are.

Okay, you didn’t exactly have the traditional route, you did something else first. I admire those that find their place after a long journey, it means they’ve experienced life and the world and still wanted to do this crazy actor thing. Now stay the course and see this thing out. Because going back to that other thing, the thing with the money, the thing that you feel comfortable but unrewarded doing, that’s not going to be the thing that sustains you on your deathbed. Did you make the most of this short life? Or did you waste it telling yourself that you could do it, IF IF IF. Turn those IFs into reality. I will always be here to help you if I can, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.

I worry that you don’t challenge yourself very much, and when you do, you’re easily frustrated. Accept your frustration, it is a natural condition over any struggle and a struggle will help you to grow, your ability will grow only WITH struggle, your successes will teach you relatively nothing. Only how to enjoy it, except most of us can’t enjoy the moment, but you must, when it comes to you, enjoy it fully, because it is always over too quickly, and then we’re back to square one. And that’s the thing, remember to prepare for later in life, because you will be able to work for a long time, but you must prepare for the future like any other person.

You will find distractions along the way, love, marriage, children maybe, or just the need to earn a regular crust, and if you fall away, you will do so with my respect, just commit to that thing and don’t pine to come back to us, because you can’t have both things. And if you live in regret, it will make me very sad.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I know – you don’t wan to, because you’re proud and confident and bull headed and stubborn, but you can always have my help, or that of others, don’t be afraid to reach out and take it, so many people would be glad to help you. Just ask nicely and you’ll be surprised how easy it comes, and it won’t be demeaning or embarrassing, it will be joyful.

Remember to be truthful, anyone can bullshit an audience, that’s easy. Everything you do on stage or screen should come from a truthful place and you know where this place is, because you will remember what it feels like. The truth is not an easy place to work from and you will be tempted to skip, to go around, to take the easy routes. Don’t do it. It’s the easy way down to become the ham you fear you might sometimes be.

And never forget that if you’re stuck, you have technique, solid and true, something to work from. Not a stupid pick and mix generalist approach, but a dead simple A, B, C process that helps you to see things clearly.

Right now, I think you need to make a choice and jump into this two feet, or always border on amateurism. I apologise if that seems harsh, but we both know it’s true. So both feet in now. Real steps. Not sticking in the toe and testing the water, it only leads to stasis.

Regardless of all this, you will always have my respect. But I think now it’s time to act, so take action and go for it.