Message to an Actress

Dear Actress

When I first met you, you were confident, hard working and diligent and that hasn’t changed. But you were fake, your acting style was pretend, showy, amateurish. Sadly you didn’t even know this because you had been told all your life what a good actress you were. So, when you first heard my words to you, ‘this is false, you’re pretending, that’s not truthful, it’s lying, you’re bullshitting’ must have stung quite hard. Secretly you knew that you weren’t doing your best work and when you heard these words, you were both hurt and comforted by them at the same time.

You are yet to have the success that you deserve, but I doubt that it will be far away. Of course, you may take your foot off the gas, change directions, spin your wheels, get distracted by life or love and then you’re going to find it hard than ever to get back on track. You are an actress, it’s not the only thing you’re good at, but it is the thing that you do best. Perhaps you don’t know it. But it’s time for you to accept it. This is the thing for you, the only thing for you.

You need to keep up the momentum, stay hungry, fight not just for the good parts, but also for the best work, even when you’re surrounded by those who aren’t willing to put in the effort, even if you receive the worst direction in a god awful script, you have to keep going. And there’s going to be lots of things that you will miss out on if you’re going to be successful. A life on the stage or screen is not a normal life, and those that achieve the level of their dreams rarely have a ‘normal’ existence. They do get married, they do have kids, but both can easily side-track you. These choices are still ahead for you.

When you are struggling, always come back to the technique you know. Stay truthful, be honest, ask the right questions and you will receive the right answers. Don’t doubt yourself, it’s a natural state for the artist, but it leads to nowhere but depression. Even if you don’t get cast, you are still good. Even when that other girl gets the role you were born to play, you’re still the best. Never let rejection dictate how you feel about yourself.

Don’t take your triumphs too personally, this will help you with the rejections and the failures.

Respect the script, the answers are there and you know how to bring them out, you have the tools, and you really only need to practice now. Other training might help you, but be selective and don’t leave your common sense at the door when you enter their studio. But if you train, train hard, train until it makes you feel sick, or you want to burst into tears, our craft is a lot of graft, but it’s also a lot of luck. Make your own luck, make connections, do things for free if you believe in them, never sell yourself cheap, but never forget you need to pay the rent.

And I’m always here, when you need someone to help you, or you’re frustrated and you need someone to remind you how far you’ve come. Never give up, surrender is the only real failure.

COACH