Most people fall into one or the other: introverts or extroverts. If you're an extrovert, you need excitement and stimulation and are usually seen as the life of the party. You find introverts shy and recessive. If you're an introvert, you're happiest on your own curled up with your favourite book or napping (if you're a cat), happily existing in the intricate tapistry of your inner world. You find extroverts bossy and loud and obnoxious, and well, frankly - immature.
In case you didn't pick up on the bias... I'm an introvert. I am happy as a clam on my own. When I'm around other people I put on an act. It's still me, but louder and more engaged. Let me tell you: it's exhausting. I've tried just being "myself" but then get plagued with questions: "Are you ok?" "Are you feeling peeky?" "Are you bored?" or the worst one: "Are you angry?" No! I'm not angry! I can't help it if my face takes on a rather stern set at rest. I was disciplined a lot in childhood - it's made me rather serious minded.
So I try and make an effort, meet people half way: relax my jaw, take my glasses off, relax the permanent coil, try to be... more chilled. Like a nice Italian white whine on a Summer's day. "Are you sleepy or something?" No! I'm half blind and you all look like a blur to me!
This is probably why - as a rule - actors tend to be extroverts and writers tend to be introverts, with musicians nicely divided between the two. (I have made this up but it seems right, doesn't it?) And here I am, an introvert, trying to be an actor. Why go through all the trouble?
Because as an actor you are rarely yourself. Oh sure, you build the character on familiar ground, it's you but it's not you. A bit like channelling. You become a conduit. Something else takes over. Are you still with me?
I'm not saying you become possessed, I'm just saying that something in you relaxes, let's go of the steering wheel and trusts the navigating to someone else. It takes some trust, but then, if you like your character, it's like a best friend, you share everything. Or if you prefer it's like being hypnotised: you're fully conscious but not in charge.
But there is a catch to this reasoning, because acting is 10% well - acting - and 90% business. And when it comes to networking introverts don't stand a chance. Imagine a room full of people and not only do you want to talk to no one, you don't even want to be in the same room as them, every molecule in your body is screaming at you to run away, and thanks to the great training you received at drama school, you couldn't hide your feelings if your life depended on it and everyone can read what you're thinking as clearly as if it were printed out on your forehead. And even if you slap on a hat, they'll be able to read it in your eyes...
Not only that but I am Pisces. Do you know how few A-list stars are Pisces? They're all Leo or Libra... or something starting with an L, but definitely not Pisces. Too recessessive, too dreamy, too nice...
Did you notice? I made a big leap there from "actor" to "A-list". I'm not sure there is a bridge between the two. Except my own Ego.
So maybe anyone can be an actor, a few of can be very good actors, and some will become A-list. A bit like life really. Some of us make good human beings, some of us become saints, and others win the jackpot.
It's a kind of lottery. But be honest, if you could choose for yourself, would you rather be an innie or an outtie?
Showing posts with label A list actors in theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A list actors in theatre. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Don't you know who the hell I am?
A successful acting career is a bit like alchemy. It involves luck, persistance, hard work, a thick skin, sometimes talent - but the precise formula is elusive and ever changing. It's also a bit like money. Once you have a fair amount of it, it's self-generating. The problem is starting out.
The rules used to be simple. Successful actors acted in film, high profile TV dramas or long running series, and to a lesser extent soaps, and once in a while dipped their toes in theatre through the National Theatre or the RSC or if they were really edgy, the Donmar Warehouse.
Actors who were starting out did commercials, student films, fringe theatre, and increasingly online entertainment. They worked for free (because they worked a non-acting job on the side to pay the bills). They were the cannon fodder of new writing.
Then the credit crunch happened. And also Brown's tinkering with tax relief on film production (he got rid of it). And the jobs disappeared. At first nothing much happened. People stayed put. A few actors moved to Hollywood. Some did very well. Dominic West in the Wire, Hugh Laurie in House, the list goes on...
The others stayed put some more. But the jobs didn't come back. So what do you think happened? Successful actors downgraded... they started doing adverts, they started appearing in Fringe Theatre... and the audiences followed.
What a bonanza for the fringe theatres! After years of dwindling or absent subsidies and hard slog... finally success! Sold out runs. Big PR stories. Lots of press. What a bonanza for new writers! Finally a chance to fight back against the West End juggernauts!
I'm all for it of course, in theory. But where does this leave the rest of us who are just starting out? Out in the cold I'm afraid. And in February, it's a darn chilly place!
The bad news is that the numbers of aspiring actors will drop over the next few years. The waves of starry eyed new comers will swell every year but those who've been in the business for a few years will probably start looking at alternatives (casting, producing, writing, directing) or drop out of the business altogether and start a family and get a mortgage (or not).
The good news it that as there are too many actors, so a bit of market dynamic will separate the wheat from the chaff and leave the industry leaner and stronger for it. And when things pick up again, there'll be more jobs for those hardy few who've stuck it out.
In the meantime, next time you book your tickets to see Keira Knightley at the NT or Nicole Kidman taking her kit off - spare a thought for the actors who might have played the part better, albeit to a far smaller audience, who are condemned to another shift at the telemarketing job - or worse - a summer at Butlins.
There's only one thing that's more unappealing than an out of work and desperate actor. And that's a whingeing actor. So what's the moral? There isn't one really. Afterall the Industry is called Show Business, not Show Art or Show Charity. It's about luck, persistence, hard work, a thick skin... if you're not up for it, don't do it. Get a degree, get a proper job, raise a family... and be happy.
The rules used to be simple. Successful actors acted in film, high profile TV dramas or long running series, and to a lesser extent soaps, and once in a while dipped their toes in theatre through the National Theatre or the RSC or if they were really edgy, the Donmar Warehouse.
Actors who were starting out did commercials, student films, fringe theatre, and increasingly online entertainment. They worked for free (because they worked a non-acting job on the side to pay the bills). They were the cannon fodder of new writing.
Then the credit crunch happened. And also Brown's tinkering with tax relief on film production (he got rid of it). And the jobs disappeared. At first nothing much happened. People stayed put. A few actors moved to Hollywood. Some did very well. Dominic West in the Wire, Hugh Laurie in House, the list goes on...
The others stayed put some more. But the jobs didn't come back. So what do you think happened? Successful actors downgraded... they started doing adverts, they started appearing in Fringe Theatre... and the audiences followed.
What a bonanza for the fringe theatres! After years of dwindling or absent subsidies and hard slog... finally success! Sold out runs. Big PR stories. Lots of press. What a bonanza for new writers! Finally a chance to fight back against the West End juggernauts!
I'm all for it of course, in theory. But where does this leave the rest of us who are just starting out? Out in the cold I'm afraid. And in February, it's a darn chilly place!
The bad news is that the numbers of aspiring actors will drop over the next few years. The waves of starry eyed new comers will swell every year but those who've been in the business for a few years will probably start looking at alternatives (casting, producing, writing, directing) or drop out of the business altogether and start a family and get a mortgage (or not).
The good news it that as there are too many actors, so a bit of market dynamic will separate the wheat from the chaff and leave the industry leaner and stronger for it. And when things pick up again, there'll be more jobs for those hardy few who've stuck it out.
In the meantime, next time you book your tickets to see Keira Knightley at the NT or Nicole Kidman taking her kit off - spare a thought for the actors who might have played the part better, albeit to a far smaller audience, who are condemned to another shift at the telemarketing job - or worse - a summer at Butlins.
There's only one thing that's more unappealing than an out of work and desperate actor. And that's a whingeing actor. So what's the moral? There isn't one really. Afterall the Industry is called Show Business, not Show Art or Show Charity. It's about luck, persistence, hard work, a thick skin... if you're not up for it, don't do it. Get a degree, get a proper job, raise a family... and be happy.
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